


Ghost Wanted

by DisposablePaperCup



Category: Danny Phantom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Civil War (Marvel), Comedy, Crossover, Danny Phantom Crossover, Dark Comedy, Explicit Language, Fluff, Gen, Marvel 616/MCU Crossover, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), SORRY YALL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22453252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisposablePaperCup/pseuds/DisposablePaperCup
Summary: All Daniel Fenton really wanted was to get home before 1 am on patrol nights, not flunk out of English, andmaybeget left out of all the 'superhero politics' nonsense.Was that too much to ask?
Comments: 64
Kudos: 287





	1. Fifteen Missed Calls

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Ghost of Heroes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17915615) by [Enigmaris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigmaris/pseuds/Enigmaris), [ScarletNightFury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletNightFury/pseuds/ScarletNightFury). 

Today was, most arguably, the worst day in Danny Fenton's life. Well, his afterlife, that is. Of course, having the Guys In White on his tail for the past week wasn't helping anything, not to mention that his phone had been ringing off the hook. His English grade was slipping and Mr.Lancer wouldn't get off his back. So, yes, this could very well be considered the worst day of his life. 

_Bill Nye the Science Guy! Bill, Bill, Bill-_ groaning in annoyance, he facepalmed in response to his goofy ringtone going off in the fifth period. His teacher gave him a glare through her thick-rimmed glasses, "Mr. Fenton?" The class giggled while he dug out his phone and switched it to silent. He shamefully buried his head in his hands. 

"Ahem." 

Danny glanced back up at his teacher, "...Yes, Ms.Laucklin?" 

She glared at him, holding out her hand expectantly. 

Grumbling to himself, Danny disdainfully stood and shuffled over to the teacher's desk. Uncontrollable snickering radiated through the class as he awkwardly handed over his phone. She nodded, satisfied. As subtly as he could, Danny turned to return to his seat. 

"Mr. Fenton." 

He stopped cold. "Yes, Ms.Laucklin?" He begged that it wouldn't get any worse. 

"That's detention." He groaned in defeat. "See me after class." 

\---------- 

When the fifth-period bell finally rang, everyone vacated the classroom as if there was a fire. They did make sure to snigger at Danny's expense before running off, so that was thoughtful of them. He sighed heavily and slowly made his way back over to the teacher. 

"Mr.Fenton, I expect you here later today to help sweep the cafeteria." 

Danny cursed silently. 

"You know my policy on mobile devices during class." 

She fished his phone out of a drawer and shut it with a hard slam. Danny winced at that and gratefully retrieved his phone when she passed it back to him. 

_Fifteen missed calls from an unknown number._ What on earth? Whoever it was trying to call him, they were certainly persistent. 

"After the sixth period, go to the cafeteria. Ms.Gall will be there to instruct you." 

Danny was barely listening, although he had enough sense to shove his phone back in his pocket for the time being. He fidgeted until her schpeal was over. 

"-until your parents come to pick you up. Understood?" 

"Uh-huh. Yes ma'am." 

"Good. Now, you may leave." 

Danny practically ran out the door, hardly managing to restrain his curiosity. The hall was completely empty, confirming the fact that Danny was late. As soon as he rounded the corner and made it to his locker, he ducked his head in and hastily checked his phone. 

Whoever was calling him didn't leave any messages - the only option being to call them back or wait for them to call him. Sighing grumpily, Danny stuffed his backpack into his locker and grabbed his change of gym clothes. It was going to be a long day. 

\---------- 

"They didn't leave any messages?" Tucker inquired, fiddling with Danny's phone. 

"No - just a thousand calls." Danny huffed, folding yet another piece of his history notes into an airplane. 

He let it soar and it bumped awkwardly into the earbud of the girl next to him. Sam barely glanced up, simply snatching the plane and sending it back in Danny's direction. The trio were all situated on the gym bleachers, desperately trying not to attract the attention of Mr.Hart, the gym teacher. Tucker tapped away for a while longer, eventually letting out a frustrated growl. 

"Dude, I don't know who's been calling you, but they have a firewall the size of the Mississippi river!" 

He tossed it back to Danny, who fumbled before catching it. 

"Damn. Well, thanks for trying." 

"If you swing by after detention, we might be able to figure out who's been calling you." The tech-geek let a wide grin envelop his features, "I've got a new setup im _dying_ to try!" 

Danny let out a short bark of laughter. 

"I'm way ahead of you, Tuck." 

The group continued to banter, jovially changing the subject to the new video game that just released while Sam doodled in her notebook. The chime of the bell sent all the students on their way. Most glad to be out of the gym - except Danny, who was not thrilled at the prospect of sweeping the cafeteria floor for the evening. 

"Come on, Danny, it's only an hour!" Sam gently tried to get him to perk up. 

"Yeah, but Tuck and I were gonna hit up the arcade but I guess that plans a bust now." Danny grumbled. 

Tucker and Sam eventually said their goodbyes and left Danny at his locker. He immediately sank back into sulking but was interrupted once again by his phone ringing. 

"Oh- goddammit! What is it now?!" Snatching his phone out of his pocket, he jabbed at the 'answer' button. 

"Hello?" His tone was far from friendly. 

"Is this a 'Daniel Fenton'?" 

_Great. Probably just a stupid scam caller,_ Danny thought sourly. 

He sighed, "Yeah, that's me." 

"Good. This is Happy Hogan. I've been trying to get in contact with you?" 

"Yeah I could tell." He bitterly remarked, "Got me detention too." 

"That's unfortunate." The man's tone showing he truly did not care, "However, I will need you to meet me as soon as possible." 

Danny blinked. "Do you even know where I live?" 

If this was a scam caller they were truly being extensive about it, although he truly doubted they knew his address. 

"No. However, I am an associate of Tony Stark-" Now that got Danny's attention, "-And he has wanted to meet up with you for some time now." 

A wave of anxiety flooded Danny. He thought back to the past week - although he didn't care much for politics, he certainly knew about the Hero Registration Act. A flicker of hope grew but he stomped it down. 

"And what does that mean for me?" He kept his tone professional. 

"Well, we'd have to go over the details in person. I'm sure you understand." 

But Danny _didn't_ understand. This 'Happy' person could be with the GiW for all he knew! He considered the offer. On one hand, the accords could provide protection _against_ the GiW and the government overall. On the other hand, if it was a trap, he wouldn't know until it was too late. But the way it was all phrased made it seem like 'Happy Hogan' - or Tony Stark by extension - knew about Phantom. 

"Well?" 

Danny didn't answer at first. 

He sighed, "Sorry, mister Hogan, but I'm going to have to decline." 

"What?" The man sounded shocked, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity-" 

Danny hung up. He'd heard enough. He banged his head against the bottom of his locker. Shoving his phone into his bag and slamming the door shut, Danny grumbled all the way to the cafeteria. 

\---------- 

"Mom, I'm home!" Danny's no-so-enthusiastic entry was punctuated by a not-so-gentle slam of the front door. 

"Hey, honey! We're down in the lab if you need us!" His mom's cheery voice echoed up the stairs. 

"Yeah, yeah..." He muttered, stomping up the stairs. 

Now, let's just say, Danny's day went from 'exhausting' to 'absolutely terrible' after this. He swung open the door to his room, completely prepared to flop onto his bed, and was greeted with a crisp white envelope sat square in the middle of his navy blue bedsheets. Impossible to miss it. 

The hearty groan that reverberated around the bedroom was concluded with a very poorly restrained fit of cursing. Once Danny finished his hormonal raging, he let out a heavy sigh and snatched up the envelope. 

The message was short, simple, and very neat. 

_5 pm, Allen Library, Amity Park._

Danny flipped the letter over, perturbed by the lack of information. Another quick sift through the envelope yielded no further findings. Contemplating this, Danny ran one hand through his hair. Glancing at his alarm clock, it read 4:38. 

Slumping back into his pillows, Danny thought over the matter. No matter how many times he turned it over in his head, he only knew so much and it wasn't much to go off of. Correction - it was _nothing_ to go off of! Another thoroughly annoyed groan resounded through the room. 

After ten minutes of going back and forth, Danny gave a good hard look at the situation. He came upon a compromise - he'd go, listen to whatever it was whoever it had to say, and make his decision. He wasn't agreeing right off the bat. Silently opening his window, Danny let the familiar white rings wash over him. He smoothly slipped out and flew off into the fading daylight. One thought kept itself prominent as the wind whipped around his face. 

_Sam and Tucker are going to kill me._


	2. You Don't Say 'No' to Tony Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony takes matters into his own hands.

"So." Danny began, casually sitting on a bench, just outside the library. The only other person there was right next to him - a somewhat heavyset man in a clean black suit and sunglasses. The only person dressed so obviously to be an 'inconspicuous' messenger.

"What do you want?" He huffed a lock of dark hair out of his eyes.

The man didn't turn to look at him.

"You hung up on me." The man's voice was calm, although clearly offended. Danny figured he must be the 'Happy Hogan' who called him, "This is too important for pride, kid."

Danny snapped around, bristling.

"What _exactly_ am I supposed to care about that's 'too important for pride'?"

Happy dramatically pulled off his sunglasses in a way he supposed was meant to impress Danny. All it did was make him more annoyed.

"This is war, kid." He crossed his arms, "I'm sure you've heard of the accords?"

"The hero accords, yeah." He shrugged.

"Well, Captain America is now a wanted criminal, along with anyone who allies with him-" Danny snapped to face him. "And we're looking for recruits."

"I'm sorry-" Danny waved his hands, emphasizing his confusion greatly. "First of all, _Captain America_ is a criminal?!"

He stood suddenly, pacing back and forth in front of the bench.

"And who is _'we'_?!" Happy didn't look amused.

"'We' is Tony Stark and his affiliates." He tucked his sunglasses back on, "If you choose to join Stark, you'll be personally transported to Germany where Captain Rogers is hiding out. We need someone with your abilities."

Danny wanted to scream. He begrudgingly sat back down, crossing his arms.

Happy glanced at his watch, sighed, and stood, "We'd better head inside."

Danny grumbled under his breath but followed him into the library. The smell of old books and that strange, clean smell libraries always have made Danny let out a stifled sneeze. Happy shot him an amused glance and led the way around the many aluminum bookshelves. Eventually, they reached a conference room in the far back. Happy stood to the side of the door, hands clasped in front of him.

Danny sighed, eyeing the door, which had no window. Anything could be behind it - it could be a trap by the GiW for all he knew. Still, he _wouldn't_ know until he opened it. He steeled his courage and turned the handle.

Needless to say, he was not expecting a slightly annoyed Tony Stark to be lounging in an old office chair with his feet propped up on the desk.

He was in fact, expecting anything but that.

"What's up, kid? You look like you've seen a ghost." Tony casually commented.

Danny shut his mouth with an audible 'clop' and shuffled into the room. Tony gestured for him to take a seat and he numbly sat in one of the dusty chairs and dropped his bag onto the floor. Danny kept blinking, staring at Tony. He initially didn't believe Happy's claim to be an associate of _the_ Tony Stark and now - well, now there was no denying it.

His eyes flickered from the table to Tony, who seemed amused at Danny's apparent shock. He finally, mercifully, broke the silence.

"How come you've been ignoring Happy?"

Danny's mouth moved but no words came out, "I-uh, I was in- in school?" It came out as more of a question.

"Well," Tony laced his fingers together, "You won't have to worry about school for a while, I can tell you as much."

Danny shook his head, gathering his thoughts, "Why me?"

Tony considered that for a moment, "The real question is, 'why not you?'" He tucked his feet back underneath the desk and leaned forward, "You see, I've been meaning to contact you but, unfortunately, I've had a lot on my plate recently."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim device - metal on both ends and a strange, holographic glass material in between. Almost like an extremely modern smartphone. Tony tapped the screen gently then flicked the device. A holographic projection spread out, featuring footage of one of Phantom's many fights.

The video paused on a frame of Phantom getting thrown across his school parking lot. The green eyes left a strange residue from the motion blur.

"You're the 'Inviso-Bill', right?" Danny groaned. "Well, obviously we have to work on the _name_, but other than that-"

"I-I'm sorry, Mr.Tony Stark, sir," Danny awkwardly interrupted, "But what does this have to do with me?"

Tony tilted his head to the side, "Happy explained it to you, didn't he?" Danny nodded. Tony sighed, "Long story short, I need some help apprehending some 'criminals' and thought you'd be the perfect one to help me."

Danny gave him a 'why?' look. He continued, "See, the thing about the hero accords is that it's intended to regulate the actions we - the heroes - can take. However, for people the government considers 'enhanced', they are treated with a lot less, how do I put this-"

"Respect." Danny finished, "Yeah, I get that a lot."

Tony leaned back, "I figured if I get someone the government considers a danger - an enhanced - on the team, Cap will stop giving me so much trouble."

The halfa considered that, before sighing, "Look, I get what you're trying to do, but the thing about me is-" he pointed at the hologram, "-ghosts don't get civil rights. Even if I _do_ decide to sign, that signature won't mean jack to the government officials."

Tony had already gone over that possibility in his head - he had it all planned out. He flicked his pocket-hologram projecter again and the image disappeared, "Well, considering the fact that you will be assisting one of the most influential billionaires of our time, I think I can handle a couple of government officials for you."

Danny thought on that. Tony continued, "Not to mention, not a word of this will be breathed to your parents and you get to have an extra two months assisting me at the new Avenger's facility." The teen's eyes shone with stars. "Along with another one of my interns, of course, but I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

Danny ran his hand through his hair - although he'd never been very interested in the tech side of things in his family, an internship at _the_ Avengers facility was almost too much to ask for. His excitement grew as his mind ran through all the gadgets he'd be able to engineer, all the opportunities to see the stars at an entirely different angle.

Just as fast as his eyes lit up, they dimmed, "I-I'd love to, but," he glanced at the window outside, which was shuttered, "I can't leave Amity Park without someone to help protect it. If you haven't noticed the local ghost hunters don't _quite_ cut it."

"Oh, that's no problem. I found a ghost hunter who seems to do a lot better than your parents do - no offense. Valerie, I believe her name was. Very independent girl."

Danny chuckled, "Yeah, that's her alright. I will say she's the only ghost hunter who's gotten the closest to catching me these past few years."

His smile dropped, "If I do this, I won't get hunted by the government anymore? No more running?" Tony nodded.

Danny ran a hand through his hair, "I... I guess... I don't know what to say? I...Thank you."

Tony sat forward, "Perfect. I'll have Happy here to pick you up in two days, that's enough time to pack, yes?" Danny nodded, a little starstruck, "I've already emailed your parents with all the information - excluding the whole hero business, of course - so just be ready by then and I'll take care of the rest."

With that, Tony stood and dusted himself off, "See you then, kid." He walked out of the room, humming quietly.

Danny sat in silence for a good five minutes, hardly believing his luck. He barely registered slinging his bag on his shoulder and walking out of the library. Only when he turned the corner to head by his house did he start feeling the sheer joyful excitement bubbling up. By the time he shut the front door, he was barely restraining himself from breaking out into cheers.

He didn't have time to, either - the second they heard the front door shut his parents were off the couch and squeezing Danny until he was afraid he might suffocate.

"We're so _proud_ of you, honey!" His mom kissed the top of his head too many times to count.

"That's our boy - heading off to the big leagues-" His dad started tearing up, "-this calls for celebratory fudge!"

Jack dashed into the kitchen and popped open the minifridge he'd gotten exclusively for fudge, "We're breaking out the special fudge tonight! Triple chocolate and raspberry!"

Danny laughed as Jazz skipped down the stairs, not waiting to give him a hug of her own. She was squealing into his ear but Danny didn't mind it.

"This is such a big opportunity, Danny! There are amazing long-term benefits for being in a thriving environment such as-" Danny rolled his eyes as his sister started her psychology schpeal.

That night's dinner was jovial and bright, not a hint of ghost-talk uttered by anyone. As a bonus, the food was completely free of ecto-contamination. Not a walking bowl of mac-n-cheese to be so much as heard. Danny blushed under the intense praise he was getting, although he did admit it felt nice to do something _good_ for once - academically.

Danny piled into bed as early as possible, although he had a lot to think about. He would have to spend all day packing tomorrow, then he'd have one day to hang out with his friends, then he'd be whisked off to Germany alongside some of the greatest fighters he'd ever known. For some reason, a little bit of fear crept its way into Danny's mind. A little hint of doubt.

It was rational, of course - he had no idea what he'd be asked to do, let alone who he'd have to fight. Not to mention he would be fighting people. Actual, _living_, people. Not ghosts. Danny sighed and opted to look up at his ceiling, the faintly glowing stars still there after so many years.

But, the fear was exciting. And maybe a little reassuring. Still, he couldn't afford to waste time overthinking things. He squashed all his thoughts down, turning over and pulling the blanket up to his ears.

Things would turn out okay. They would.

...Right?

\----------

Two days later, standing on his doorsteps, Danny let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He sadly rolled the wheel of his luggage, which was on lying it's side to his left. Tucker patted his arm reassuringly.

"Come on, dude. You made the right choice, no need to stress about it."

Sam huffed, "I for one think the accords are bullshi-" She stopped, seeing Danny's downtrodden expression.

Danny sighed, "I guess they are, Sam, but I'd rather have someone to help me fight rather than _running_ all the time. The Guys in White can't stay idiots forever."

The group quieted as a sleek black car pulled up and slowed to a stop in front of them. The driver's side window slowly rolled down.

"Hey, kids." Happy greeted, before climbing out of the car and grabbing Danny's luggage. He swiftly placed it in the trunk, grunting somewhat from the exertion.

Danny swallowed nervously, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders. Happy clambered back into the driver's seat and gestured for Danny to get in.

"Sleek ride, my man." Tucker commented. The trio admired the vehicle as they approached.

"Be safe, Danny." Sam patted his back.

"And make sure you call us with videos!" Tucker enthusiastically added.

"I will, you guys. See you in two months." Danny waved to them and pulled open the car door.

A dirty-blonde mess of hair peeked at Danny, who shimmied into the vehicle with little difficulty. He situated his bag on the floor and turned back to the other boy.

"Hi, I'm Peter. Peter Parker," The teen stretched his arm over and offered it to Danny.

He took it sheepishly, "Danny Fenton. Nice to meet you."

Danny pulled the car door shut as almost an afterthought and waved to Sam and Tucker through the open window until they were out of sight.

"Peter, this is the other intern Tony was telling you about." Happy gestured at Danny, "I figure you two will get along just fine - you're both pretty smart and all that."

Peter had a look of amazement in his eyes as if soaking in everything with sheer happiness. Danny was a little more on the 'I _really_ hope don't mess this up' side of the spectrum. Needless to say, both boys idolized Tony and were more than eager to get started in their internships.

"Okay, we're going to head over to the airport and once we land in New York, the hotel is our first stop." Happy commented.

The teens nodded, and Peter wasted no time asking Danny all about his life.

"So, I read about the whole 'most haunted town' thing - is it really true?"

Danny scoffed, "If by 'true' you mean we get a ghost attack every other day, yeah."

"Wow." Peter breathed, "How do you handle it?"

"Well," Danny considered that, "We have some local ghost hunters, they usually take care of the smaller ghosts and stuff."

"Don't you guys have that hero guy? Inviso-Bill or whatever?" Danny cringed at the name.

"Some of the kids at my school have started calling him 'Phantom', but yeah - we don't really know why he does it but he tends to protect Amity from some of the more dangerous ghosts."

The conversation continued as such, Peter asking as many questions as humanly possible about the mysterious ghost-fighting hero, while Danny, after learning Peter was from Queens, asked about Spider-man. Happy wondered about how easy it really was to figure out the identities of these two when it was so blatantly obvious. Although, their constant chatter was also getting on his nerves somewhat.

Thankfully, they arrived soon enough at the airport. Danny and Peter both marveled at the wonders of a private plane.

"Woah, no pilot? That's awesome." Peter commented, balancing both his bags and his video camera with ease.

"Ooh, roomy." Danny glanced about at the spacious interior, "I've only been on public planes before."

"I've never been on any plane." Peter took a seat right next to Happy.

"Is that where you're sitting?" Peter nodded, "Is this your first time on a private plane?"

"Yeah?"

Happy wordlessly got up and moved to a different seat. Danny gladly took his spot. The teens continued enthusing about what wonderful things they planned on engineering - both mindful to leave out anything about their hero business.

"I don't have the equipment necessary to build them at home, but I've got several blueprints for more ghost-hunting gear-" Danny pulled out a flash drive, decorated with stars.

"Oh, we can work on them together! I've got a couple too, mostly for fun though-" And on it went, both happy to have someone that shared their interests so closely.

The two-hour flight barely felt like thirty minutes for the pair, and Danny was almost disappointed when they touched down in New York. It only took them another twenty minutes to get to the hotel, which, Danny noted, was just the right mix of lavish comfort and hospitality - not too fancy, but quite an expensive place.

They had their own rooms of course, which Danny was quite grateful for - he wasn't sure if letting Peter know his secret identity was a good idea or not. His room was one door down from Peters, and he could hear Happy instructing the other teen with his heightened hearing. He chuckled lightly, exploring the room.

It was quite spacious, with a large queen-size bed, a wardrobe, a mass of fluffy white pillows, and wall-mounted television. He was just about to go see what Happy was up to when he opened the final closet. Which, as it turns out, was actually an entire addition to his room. There were two more queen-sized beds and a table, as well as a shiny metallic briefcase that was almost a foot thick.

Danny curiously made his way over. Noticing there was a notecard on top, he flicked it open.

"A minor upgrade?" Danny muttered.

Without another word, he flicked open the briefcase. His breath was very well taken away as he marveled at the suit, propped up on a stand that extended out of the case.

The suit itself closely resembled Danny's current one - black being the more prominent color with white accents. This one had a slightly different design for the gloves and boots, each coming up to his joint and having black on the fingertips, toes, and heels. The logo was the same as always but blended closer with the suit instead of being a last-minute addition. There was a black stripe just around the interior of the white neckpiece and, Danny noticed with interest, there was a half-face mask - covering his mouth and nose instead of a full mask, which he appreciated.

The most intricate pieces of the suit were the goggles, which were suspended off to the side, and a utility belt of sorts, which sported a useful clip for a Fenton Thermos.

"Tony really did his research." Danny muttered.

He immediately transformed and stripped off his old hazmat with excitement. It was a cinch phasing into the new suit and he admired it proudly in the mirror. The facemask gave him a little more of an intimidating look but Danny found he could easily tuck it away. The goggles snugly fit onto his head and he happily slid them over his eyes.

"Woah."

Whatever tech Tony put in the goggles, it amplified everything. _Everything._ Danny could focus his - already enhanced - eyesight and see even the smallest details in things. He took a few seconds glancing about at all the specks of dust on the mirror beside him. Of course, they were better suited for recon than an actual hands-on fight, but he figured they'd come in handy.

After checking through the case again, Danny found an upgraded version of a Fenton Thermos, which was a little smaller - a quick search revealing a note that read 'picked up one of your old models a while back, figured I'd give it an upgrade' - and two metallic wristbands, which, another note introduced as 'wrist-mounted communication devices, in case your comms unit goes dead. They also double as a GPS and a few other things'.

Danny gratefully put the new accessories into his utility belt - putting one of the wristbands on - and turned to a knocking at the door. He immediately changed back, the new suit replaced with his grass-stained jeans and blue jacket.

Happy walked in, looking slightly annoyed, "Alright, Peter is staying here and- where's the suit?"

Danny shrugged, "Already put it on."

"Okay, well, you've got to get going now." He pulled out a tiny flash drive, "Here's the address. Plug it into one of the wristbands and get going. The rest of the team is already there. Well, almost all of them." He added that last part somewhat bitterly.

Danny took the flash drive and casually transformed, letting the brief cold sensation subside before clicking the flash drive into a small slot on the wristband. It instantly came to life with a GPS system appearing in the form of a holographic screen. Happy reached over and tapped the top - the hologram disappeared.

"Just tap the top and you'll get the display up." Happy gestured to the door, "You'd better head off now."

"Alright, I'm going." Danny started hovering lightly.

"Oh, and please," Happy added, "_please_ take this seriously."

Danny smirked, "Don't worry, I'm always _dead_ serious." Happy didn't bat an eye at the joke as Danny floated away into the nearby wall.

He turned himself invisible as soon as he flew through and tapped the top of the GPS. The same blue holographic display popped up with a little green icon showing Danny where he was. He studied it for a moment before turning to the wall beside him and emerging out into the chill morning sky.

Danny took in a deep breath, savoring the slightly sweet taste of the city air, and started heading straight for his destination. It would only take him about ten minutes of flying, so Danny wasn't sure what Happy was so worried about. A flicker of color appeared on the edge of his vision and he spotted the vague reddish color of someone swinging through the buildings.

Danny blinked.

He tried denying it but the costume, the webs, the fact that they were _swinging_ through the city, Danny realized there was no other person it could be. A glance at his GPS showed they were going in the same general direction he was, so Danny shot downwards and started flying alongside the familiar shape of Spiderman.

Danny was so close he could have touched the other hero, who let out a short 'whoop!' as he swung upwards, suspended in the air for a few seconds before latching onto another web. Danny smartly stayed invisible, instead opting to watch Spiderman's skillful motions and the halfa admired how he was able to keep his momentum up without snapping the webs.

He started getting lost in his thoughts, going over the sheer scientific boundaries needed to be crossed to achieve something of that caliber. About eight or so minutes later, the buildings cleared out and got shorter and shorter. Danny glanced at his wristband as it beeped cheerfully to let him know he had arrived.

He sped a little faster than Spiderman - who had to sprint the final distance because there weren't any buildings tall enough - and found a group of people he only sort-of recognized standing alongside Iron Man.

He silently touched down, still invisible.

"They could be anywhere, we need to stay vigilant." Danny recognized the woman speaking as Black Widow. He also noted she looked a lot like Maddie.

He recognized the others as War Machine and Black Panther.

"Hold on, let me check something," Tony commented, "Friday, how far away are the two new recruits?"

"Spiderman is about one mile away and Phantom one foot to your right, boss." Tony turned to the side, seeing nothing, he grumbled, "Okay, you can come out now, kid."

Danny turned visible, a smug grin on his face. The others turned almost white with surprise.

"All you had to do was ask nicely, you know." Danny quipped at Tony, who muttered something like, 'ungrateful little-'.

He was cut off by a not-so-graceful landing a la Spiderman. He stumbled slightly after having launched himself the last few feet and tiredly waved to them all.

"H-hey, guys." He panted.

"Okay," Tony turned to the initial group, "This is Spiderman and... did you think of a better name yet?"

Danny shrugged, "Most people just call me Phantom."

"Right, and this is Phantom. I'm sure you can fit names to faces - speaking of faces, Phantom, where is your mask?"

Danny shrugged and slipped on his face mask, making sure his goggles rested securely on his head. He silently admired how breathable the fabric is - if he hadn't put it on himself, he wouldn't know it was there.

Black widow spoke up first, "Tony, I'm sorry, did you bring a teenager to a fight?" Spiderman stiffened up at that but Tony took it in stride.

"He's not technically a teenager, you know?" Danny took a second to realize they were talking about him, "It's subjective really-"

Danny sighed, casually sitting on nothing in mid-air, "You can't really be a teenager if you're dead."

The cheerful tone of his voice made everyone stop cold. He shrugged, "What? Someone had to say it. It's kinda obvious someone's a ghost when they're _glowing_."

Danny was, in fact, softly glowing.

War Machine gestured to Danny, "Tony, is he for real?"

"Yes - don't ask, it took me ages to convince him to come. He's not exactly sensitive about the whole 'dead' thing so it's no big deal."

Black Widow turned to Danny, "Ghost or not, kid, do you know what you're getting into?"

"Yeah," Danny easily replied, "Why wouldn't I? I've got years of experience under my belt, after all."

"Long story short, he's been fighting ghosts in his spare time - put your hand down-" Spiderman sadly dropped his hand, "-I know that sounds ironic but it's better not to question it."

Black Widow shrugged, "As long as he knows how to fight."

"That's fair." Danny commented.

"Okay, here's the game plan," Tony changed the subject, gathering everyone together, "I'm going to try and get Cap and Barnes out of the equation as soon as possible - their goal is to get the quinjet out of hanger five, that's where we need to defend."

He turned to War Machine, "I need you to help me take down Barnes and Cap, Natasha can you take care of whoever heads off to the quinjet first?"

She nodded. "Natasha?" Danny muttered under his breath.

"Kid," He turned to Spiderman - or, Peter, "Stay far and web 'em up, alright? Phantom?" Danny jerked his head up, "You're our trump card - stay low, don't come out till the tide turns south alright?" Danny's shoulders dropped.

"You asked me all the way out here so I could warm the bench?"

Tony paused, "Yeah, more or less. Anyways, Vision is already in position so when I give the signal, you each come in."

Danny crossed his arms defiantly.

Tony started walking out towards a gap between two white moving trucks, "Stay alert, team. Wait for my signal. Come on, Rhodes."

"Wait you can't just-" Danny was cut off as the two Iron Man suits took off in a roaring blast. He sighed heavily.

Black Widow gave him a sympathetic look, "Don't worry, you'll get your opportunity eventually."

"I thought I was going to be doing something more important than being backup."

Peter sidled over to him, "If it makes you feel better, this is my first big fight too."

Danny raised a brow, "Really? Ever?"

The other hero wrung his hands, "Well, I've fought other people before but they were like criminals and stuff, not other heroes. I mean," He sniffed, "They aren't heroes anymore 'cause they aren't acting like heroes are supposed to, but, still."

Danny shrugged, "I've never really fought people before-" Peter gave him a quizzical look under the mask, "-I mean, I usually fight other ghosts. They're easier than people, I guess - You can just stick em back in the ghost zone and be done with them. Living people though..."

Peter noticed there was a lot left unsaid but chose not to say anything.

"Whats-" He picked at his costume, "What's it like? Being a ghost, I mean?"

Danny noticed the sadness in the other hero's voice, "Well, It's not all bad. I don't have to breathe or sleep anymore, and I don't need to eat either. That leaves me with a _lot_ of free time."

"Does... does everyone become a ghost?"

"No, only the ones who weren't ready to move on when they died." He put his cheek in his hand, "Or those that were spiteful enough in life that it continued on after their deaths. I've only really dealt with the more... disagreeable ghosts."

"Oh." Peter didn't really know what he was hoping for.

They didn't have any more time to talk, however, as Tony's call of, "Underoos!" echoed over to them.

"That's my cue - gotta go!" Peter propelled himself up and over the trucks nearby with two well-placed webs and disappeared. Danny looked longingly after him. He was alone now - everyone else had left to stand by Tony. He readied himself and turned himself invisible. All he really hoped for was that he wouldn't be waiting too long to join in.

Thankfully, things went wrong right away.

Which, although it wasn't quite what Danny was going for, was good luck on his part.

**Bonus! Danny's suit redesign: **

[](https://66.media.tumblr.com/f0096374fa56cf8658949c4f355b0550/36cd1fd5c8c93a3b-73/s640x960/3db6fb03c2bd33bac30b880b1e95b2328b72ab5f)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright looks like the image is working (at least for me) but it's like _really_ big. 
> 
> It's a bit sketchy but otherwise, I hope it's good!
> 
> \-----
> 
> Sorry if the chapter seems a little rushed - going off both the Civil War and Homecoming movies there wasn't a lot between Peter's recruitment and the whole battle thing and I wanted to get straight to the action first and foremost. 
> 
> Next chapter should be up on the 14th, next Friday, around 11:30 am est.


	3. The First Rule of Airport Fight Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Danny kicks some ass and (naturally) gets his ass kicked.

The first thing that went wrong was Danny's innate impatience. 

In his defense, it was hard not to be annoyed when you'd been called out into the middle of g*d-knows-where to fight g*d-knows-who and been designated the honor of warming the bench. 

So, when Tony identified Barnes in the nearby airport terminal and only Spiderman was sent off to deal with it, he naturally took the opportunity to join him. He'd phased through the wall of the terminal and spotted Bucky and a hero he recognized as the Falcon dashing away from where he was positioned. Not too long after, Spiderman swiftly dropped in through an open portion of the ceiling and took a few seconds looking both directions down the hall before rushing off in the same direction as the other two. 

Needless to say, Danny wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. 

"Mr.Stark," He made sure to keep his voice somewhat hushed, "I've got eyes on Barnes and the Falcon. Permission to help Spiderman with 'em?" 

"No, we discussed this," A series of high-pitched repulsor blasts sounded on the other side of the comms, "You stay quiet, stay out of the way, and only come in when the tide starts turning for the worst." 

Danny groaned. Spiderman had already swung off and Danny could hear the distant sounds of fighting that echoed along the hall. He sighed and silently drifted down the corridor. 

That was when the second thing that could have gone wrong, did. 

Peter was seated on top of a map booth of sorts, with Barnes and Falcon pinned down by webbing. 

"-but I've gotta impress Mister Stark, so, I'm sorry about this." Peter was saying, and he moved to flick his wrist out and send out another web when a red and silver drone shot by, attaching a short anchor line to his outstretched hand. 

"Oh, come on-!" With that, Peter was yanked out the nearby broken open glass window. 

Danny cursed slightly, noticing Barnes start to pull against the webs with his metallic arm. 

"Mr.Stark-" 

"Kid, I've already told you," Tony sounded strained, "Stay out of the way." 

"Uh," Peter piped up, "Maybe he should help?" A muffled thud was heard, "I'm dealing with Falcon's drone right now and I don't know if he and Barnes are still where I left them." 

Tony swore quietly. Falcon had gotten one of his arms free and Danny was itching to do something, "I've got Falcon and Barnes right here, but not for long." 

Silence on the comms. "Okay," Tony huffed, "Phantom, keep it low-key, please. Keep Barnes where he is until I can get someone over there." 

Danny grinned, "That won't be a problem." 

In a swift movement, he dropped down and silently landed on the tile, watching Barnes and Falcon intently. Once Barnes ripped both his arms free of the webs, Danny took the opportunity to turn visible. 

"So," Both heroes snapped their heads up. Danny's eyes glittered, "You two wouldn't mind making this easy for me, would you?" 

They blinked. Falcon narrowed his eyes, "I'm sorry, are you a _kid_?" 

Danny groaned, "Not technically. Now-" He crossed his legs, sitting in midair, "As I said, you guys wanna do this the easy way? 'Cause I would much prefer that." 

He ignored the confused looks he got from the two and took the opportunity to assess the situation while they were distracted. He noted the webs still covering Falcon's legs and how Barnes was almost entirely free. 

He sighed at their silence, casually cracking his knuckles. Barnes took the moment to kick away the remaining webs and easily swung to his feet. Danny eyed him, grinning. 

Truth be told, he was quite nervous. He'd never really fought anyone other than ghosts, let alone a super-soldier on the same level as Captain America. 

Danny kept his position loose, easily leaning on one leg. Barnes acted quickly, taking a hard swing at Danny with his metal arm. The teen didn't flinch and swiftly ducked down, twisting slightly. Bucky deftly shot his leg out and barely missed Danny's side. The ghost's eyes flickered a brighter green and he flipped back, sliding slightly on the slick tiles. Falcon had taken a few minutes and managed to free himself entirely. 

"Alright," Danny glanced between the two, "Let's wrap this up, shall we?" 

He blinked into invisibility and darted behind Barnes, who glanced around, alert. Falcon spun around, staring Danny straight in the eyes. He ducked down and rolled to the side as Bucky, noticing Falcon's focus on the invisible teen, swung wildly. He glared at Falcons' goggles. Realizing invisibility was useless, he flickered into visibility and shot a blaze of green energy at Bucky's chest. He let out a grunt of pain and toppled to the floor, coming to a rest a few yards away. 

Falcon wasted no time rushing Danny, aiming a few well-placed punches at the ghost's face. Unfortunately for him, Danny seemed to anticipate each strike and ducked around them. After exchanging a few more hits, Danny managed to swipe his leg around and catch Falcon behind the ankle. He slammed into the ground and groaned. 

"Told you the easy way would have been better." The halfa grinned smugly. 

Falcon groaned again and Danny put his hands on his hips. The victory was short-lived as Barnes got in a solid hit on Danny's side, sending him sprawling to the floor. If he felt any remorse over hitting the teen, he didn't have time to mull it over. Barnes pulled Falcon to his feet and they exchanged a bewildered glance. 

Danny groaned, slowly rolling over onto his stomach and sitting up. His gaze hardened. 

"Okay," He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "_Okay_." 

Falcon turned to Barnes, whispering something incoherent. Danny rolled his shoulder, standing to his feet and immediately shooting off three fast-paced ectoblasts. Barnes dodged by sliding to the floor and quickly jumping back to his feet, while Falcon simply threw himself to the side. Bucky didn't wait for Danny to make another move and rushed at Danny. 

The teen, anticipating an attack, slipped to the side and was extremely confused when Bucky kept running. He put two and two together quickly enough but was immediately occupied with Falcon, who started throwing punches again. Danny's determined expression quickly turned into a wide grin as he dodged strike after strike. Unfortunately, Falcon, who wisened up to Danny's tricks, tapped his arm in between punches and two prongs extended from his bracer, alighting with electricity. 

Danny's grin faltered, "Oh shi-" 

And then came the third thing that could have gone wrong. 

To be frank, getting tased by a former superhero and nearly fainting wasn't on Danny's afterlife bucket list. The pain wasn't the worst part of it, but he could do _without_ the paralyzing sensation in his limbs. He toppled to the ground with a heavy thud and a groan. 

"Cap," Falcon panted, "We've got an enhanced allied with Tony, male, about fifteen or so." 

Danny slowly pushed himself up on his elbows, disoriented beyond belief. The world kept spinning and his limbs were so sore they felt like bricks. He forced away the burning sensation and shakily sat back on his knees. Falcon was already on him with another taser blast. Thankfully, Danny managed to get ahold of himself enough to roll to the side. He propped himself up and flipped to his feet. 

"Oh, great." Falcon muttered. 

As soon as his mind stopped reeling from the shock (literally) Danny decided his best course of attack would be to get rid of the taser as soon as possible. He darted to the right and changed directions almost instantly, grabbing Falcon's arm and yanking forward. 

Falcon saw his play and immediately spun back and elbowed Danny in the face. The teen scowled and let go of his arm, eyeing the taser warily. He edged back a few feet and came upon a decision. 

Being discreet could wait. 

"Tony," He called, "Barnes got away, I'm going after him." 

"No need kid," Tony sounded slightly annoyed, "I've got him right here with Cap. Can you get out here?" 

"On it." With that, Danny gave Falcon a mock bow and phased through the ground. 

The hero glanced around, expecting Danny to pop out at any minute. When he didn't, Falcon sighed heavily. 

"Cap, I've lost visual on the teenage enhanced." 

Silence over the comms. 

"Cap, do you read me?" 

"Yeah, I read you-" A heavy metallic clank and a grunt of pain were heard, "-any idea what his skillset is?" 

"Invisibility, energy blasts, and possibly flight. He just sunk into the ground too." 

Cap paused, "What does he look like?" 

"White hair, black and white suit, and green eyes. He's easy to recognize." 

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out. Stay on recon duty, alright?" 

Falcon nodded and was left in silence. 

Meanwhile, phasing back up through the ground outside, Danny made eye contact with a man in a strange motorcycle suit. The man's eyes widened. 

"Hey, you're the kid Cap told us about!" 

Danny tilted his head, "Really? Well then, let's see how well you can fight." 

Ant-man's jaw dropped as Danny went invisible. He spun around, sure that the teen would be going from behind to catch him by surprise. 

Of course, you don't need to rely on such things when the element of surprise is what you were made for. 

"Boo." Ant-man jumped as the whisper came from behind and got into a fighting stance. Danny resisted the urge to laugh and quickly landed a strike on Ant-man's cheek, sending him reeling. 

He was equally as surprised as Ant-man was when he recovered from Danny's punch and disappeared. Danny glanced around a bit before noticing a flicker of movement. 

"No way..." He muttered. 

Deciding he needed a little help with this one, Danny slid down his goggles and the world was alighted with green. He could now very clearly see a tiny man darting underneath a nearby truck. He blinked. 

It was startling, of course, but Danny had seen weirder. 

He was almost too distracted to dodge the enormous shipping truck that shot towards Danny with immense speed. He yelped and turned intangible last-minute, shaking his head with disorientation. He could feel his energy levels starting to get a little low - he'd used a lot of his energy fighting Barnes and Falcon, not to mention the taser that drained him almost instantly. 

Yet another truck was flung at him and he darted over it, nearly being grazed by the right side mirror. He considered his options - using an ectoblast may be accurate enough to hit Ant-man, but then again, it may very well disintegrate him. If he used his ice then the man might freeze to death immediately. The next best option was telekinesis. So, Danny did what he does best. 

"Hey, tiny!" Danny jested, still invisible, "Nice aim!" 

Ant-man bristled at that but kept quiet. Unfortunately for him, he'd stayed still long enough for Danny to lock on with his telekinesis and he shot forwards - right onto Danny's outstretched fist. He slammed into the ground and grew back to normal size at the impact, looking around frantically for his invisible adversary. Danny was hovering above the ground, panting as quietly as possible. Being invisible for the whole fight had taken a lot out of him. 

"Oh come on, where the hell-?" Ant-man grumbled, getting to his feet. 

Danny considered the fact that his invisibility had been his main advantage during this fight, but then there was the fact that he still had a _lot_ more fighting to do. With a moment to run through his options again, Danny turned visible. 

"Right here, beetle boy." 

"It's Ant-man! Ant. Man." The hero retorted, annoyed. 

Danny shrugged, "Whatever you say, beetle." 

With that, Danny sent a flurry of green energy at Ant-man, getting about five off before the hero once again shrunk. His goggles automatically focused on the tiny man dashing around a large shipping container and he took off after him, not bothering to go invisible. The shipping container was mercifully spared from being kicked in Danny's general direction and he turned the corner to find Ant-man looking _very_ smug. 

Danny landed silently on the ground and grinned, "You seem happy about something." 

"Yup," Ant-man agreed, emphasizing the 'p'. 

The teen rolled his eyes and examined the environment closely before finally smirking. He noticed the barely-visible corner of a strange metallic disc peeking out from underneath the shipping container, just near Ant-man's foot. He decided to play the game anyways, considering he now had the upper hand. 

Danny took a few confident steps towards Ant-man, preparing to fight. The other hero simply kicked the metallic disc and the shipping container was flung high into the air, tipping on its end and landing directly on top of Danny. Ant-man actually paled a little at that - he'd only intended to stun the teen, after all. Danny had been invisible every time he'd used intangibility and the hero was certain he'd crushed the teen. 

"Oi!" Ant-man glanced around, seeing Danny's head peeking out of the top of the shipping crate, "What was that for?" 

The hero stood, mouth agape, long enough for Danny to notice the unnaturally-large piece of rubble right underneath where the metallic disc and shipping container was situated. He put two and two together and realized the man must be able to shrink or enlarge things remotely. 

Ant-man recovered quickly, remembering Falcon's list of Danny's powerset. He simply watched, fighting stance ready, as Danny casually floated the rest of the way out of the shipping crate. He cracked his neck and stretched out his arms before turning back to Ant-man. 

"Y'know," Danny's eyes burned a dangerous green, "I really _hate_ when people underestimate me." 

The fight was back on in a matter of seconds. If you asked either hero how many punches they threw or how many hits they dodged they couldn't tell you. Eventually, Ant-man got a short break while Danny was stunned and listened intently on his comms set. 

"I've got something big - but I can't hold it for long." He commented. 

Danny grumbled something incoherent and began to shakily get to his feet. He'd made the mistake of using up too much energy too soon. 

"Alright, on my signal, run like hell." Ant-man said to nobody in particular, then began jogging steadily away from Danny, who scowled. 

"Hey, don't turn you back on- ow, ow-" Danny trailed off, holding his side, which he was sure had bruised ribs. The steady metallic clang of footsteps made Danny freeze up. 

He immediately rolled over, eyes blazing in fearful defense. He shot off an ectoblast which went far too much to the right and hit the ground about two feet from Danny's face. Tony, startled, jumped back. Danny quickly relaxed when he recognized him and slumped back against the concrete. 

"Oh, okay- you scared me there, sorry-" Danny panted. 

"I scared _you_?" 

"Ghosts can still get scared." The teen scowled. 

"Right, well-" Tony sighed, "You've gotta stay down, kid. You look like a mess." 

"What? No-" Danny shuffled around and tried sitting up, "See? I'm fi- _ow!_ Ow, ow..." He groaned and laid back down. 

Tony raised a brow under the mask, "Just stay down. We'll regroup once this is taken care of." 

Danny groaned in protest but gave in, putting one arm over his eyes. Tony had already flown off and Danny's eyes widened as Ant-man appeared, much, _much_ bigger than when Danny had fought him. The teen was barely able to move and simply watched as Spider-man and Black Panther darted around him. 

"Hey, guys!" Peter called over the comms, "You ever see that really old movie-" He dodged a blow from Ant-man, "-Empire strikes back?" 

"Jesus, Tony, how old is this guy?" War Machine commented. 

"I don't know, I didn't carbon date him, he's on the young side!" Tony retorted. 

"You know that part..." He panted, clearly doing something Danny could barely see over the shipping crates and trucks, "Where they're on the snow planet... with the walking thingies?" As soon as he said it, Ant-man stumbled back in response to Tony and War Machine uppercutting him square in the jaw. 

Peter's victory exclamation was cut short as he was struck by Ant-man's flailing arm. Danny winced at the impact heard over the comms. Then the line went silent for a good while. Danny gratefully took the opportunity to rest, feeling his energy slowly and steadily start ebbing back into him. He wasn't sure how long he was lying on the concrete, but it had to be only five minutes or so - he was definitely thankful for whatever he could get. 

A roaring sound equivalent to that of a rocket interrupted his relaxation. He rolled his head to see the Quinjet rising slowly out of an open hangar. He scowled. 

"Back to work," He muttered, before forcing himself to rise to his feet. 

He stumbled slightly, limping in the general direction of the Quinjet's flight path. Right on its tail were Tony, War Machine, and - Danny noted with a hint of remorse - the Falcon, who had recovered. Another figure soon joined the chase, more or less a blur of red with a golden cape. 

Danny watched curiously as he hobbled towards the group. He slowly built up the strength to fly and began to soar, although he was close to the ground. He was about a hundred yards away from the group and still only about fifty feet off the ground when the fourth thing that could have gone wrong happened. 

Vision missed. 

Normally this wouldn't be an issue - just try again, right? Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. 

If War Machine was flying just a little bit lower, he would have been hit in the back and his propulsors knocked out. A little higher and he would have been in the clear. Of course, Vision's strange energy attack grazed the front of the suit and the Arc Reactor had gone completely dead. 

Time slowed down as Danny watched, horrified. 

He was barely a blur as he flew, eyes burning a blinding green light. He was at the perfect point to intercept War Machine's fall, the only issue being the weight. 

He was still thirty feet out, War Machine tumbling over in the air. They were both only seventy feet or so off the ground and quickly losing height. Danny would be too exhausted to make them both intangible when they got there, and he already felt his head spinning. 

_Just gotta make it there._ Danny thought frantically, _just gotta make it._

Within a few seconds Danny had reached War Machine and swiftly grabbed him around the torso. The wind whistled loudly, emphasizing the speed at which the two fell. Making sure he was securely holding on, Danny grunted from the effort and managed the smallest hint of intangibility. They began slowing down - _but not enough_ \- Danny thought desperately. 

His arms felt like they may pop out of their sockets at any minute, teeth grinding against each other painfully. War Machine's armor was weightless when intangible, but Danny couldn't bring himself to manage it all of the way. The ground seemed like it was shooting up to meet them. 

_Time to make a miracle, Fenton._

In a last-ditch effort, Danny scrunched his eyes shut in concentration and summoned a sloped shield of flickering green energy. It looked like it might fizz out at any minute. He tucked his legs in and pulled War Machine to his chest, bracing for the impact. 

Luck finally decided to acknowledge Danny's existence. 

The shield worked only half as well as he'd planned, but Danny didn't mind - he and the hero in his arms rolled painfully down the sloped plane of energy and tumbled the last ten feet. Clumps of dirt and grass flew as the heavy Iron Man suit struck the ground. War Machine let out a hiss of pain as his head spun wildly. Danny fared no better - getting tased and using up all his energy left him completely drained and the impact knocked him out. A trickle of green blood stood out against the dirt on his forehead. 

Tony was on the ground instantly, alongside Vision and the Falcon, who had been taken down by Vision not moments before. 

"Hey, Rhodey?" Tony croaked, by his best friend's side instantly. 

The muffled grumble of, "Five more minutes," let everyone know War Machine was still alive and kicking. 

Danny rolled over, holding his head. He planted on hand on the ground to keep himself from falling over and sputtered out a wet cough, ectoplasm staining the dusty ground. Tony gave him a concerned look, still hesitant to leave Rhodes' side. 

"Kid, you alright?" Tony called. 

"Huh?" Danny blearily stared his way, "Uh, yeah. Shou'd be f'ne." He muttered. 

Standing wasn't an option so Danny opted to simply lie on the dirt, one hand covering his eyes from the sunlight. The team members that were able to had regrouped in the main terminal of the airport. Danny - embarrassingly - had to be carried by Vision and was resting on the tile floor. The others were situated in various places - Black Panther had left, angry with losing Barnes and decided to go after them, and Natasha had betrayed them all last minute and run, so they were absent. 

Not long after the fight began, Tony had called in a SHIELD team to apprehend the heroes allied with Cap. The group sat in tense silence, waiting for the team to arrive. Ant-man, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and the Falcon were in the middle, secured with a golden rope procured by Vision. 

Hawkeye finally managed to shuffle around enough to spot Danny - who was resting at the top of a short staircase. His normally bright glow was barely a dim flicker. 

"Wait a minute," He began, cutting the silence like a knife through butter, "Who brought a _kid_ here?" 

Danny frowned, "For the third time today, not _technically_ a kid." 

Hawkeye narrowed his eyes, "You sure about that?" 

"Uh, yeah." Danny glanced over at him and pointed at himself, "Ghost." 

The captives all acquired different variants of shock and confusion. 

"What? That can't be right." Ant-man shook his head, "Ghosts aren't real." 

Danny grinned mischievously, deciding resting could wait. He swiftly sat up and floated into a cross-legged position, only slightly wincing at the pain. 

"See? Ghost." He gestured to himself. 

Only Hawkeye and Ant-man could really see him, considering they were all tied up back-to-back. The Falcon grumbled something like, 'no need to show off' while Wanda kept silent. 

"Well, ghosts can turn invisible, right?" Ant-man began, "And you went right through that shipping container like it wasn't even there." 

Danny nodded, "Yup. Standard ghostly skillset." 

"I'm sorry, but how is that even possible?" Hawkeye interrupted. 

Tony gave Danny a harsh glare and he sheepishly shrugged, "Okay, as much as I enjoy you two debating my existence, maybe keep it down, alright?" 

The captive heroes quieted pretty quickly after that. Danny slowly lowered himself to the ground but didn't lie down. He gave Rhodey a concerned look. The hero was still in his suit - without the arc reactor working it was safer to keep him inside - and Tony's diagnostics revealed little more than a fractured hip and a concussion. He was also lying nearby, although he got to have the only bench in the area to rest on. Danny didn't mind, he healed quickly after all. 

Vision never drifted far from the three in the center of the room, keeping a close, albeit worried, eye on Wanda. Spider-man was in the rafters, keeping a watch out from above. He didn't seem much for conversation, even despite his near-constant witty banter. Danny was also quite downtrodden. 

Tony kept pacing back and forth, causing the heavy metallic clang to echo every time he took a step. Danny sighed, finally lying back down and rolling over. 

The group sat in silence for a long time, the atmosphere filled with palpable tension and hostility. Danny felt himself getting influenced because of it and opted to ignore the others whenever the aggressive glares became too much. At one point Tony's assistant chirped up and he quietly considered what she said for a moment. 

"Alright, everyone." The team looked to him, "SHIELD agents are here. We need to debrief and then we can head off. Kid-" Both Danny and Peter sat up, "No, I mean Phantom." Spider-man slumped back down, but still gave Tony his full attention, "You stay with me, I need to make sure everything goes smoothly." 

Danny nodded and got to his feet, limping slightly on his way over to Tony. In a few minutes, the group could hear harsh orders being barked outside and Danny tensed up. He didn't usually get along with government officials, even if they meant to help him. Tony stood confidently and a huge number of agents streamed in, each with a gun lowered to the ground and a comm set in their ear. Someone Danny supposed was the leader of the group came over and began talking with Tony. 

A few agents gave him strange looks but otherwise, Danny was left alone. It took a little less than five minutes to get Falcon, Hawkeye, Wanda, and Ant-man into vans with their hands bound. Danny winced when he noticed the collar Wanda was forced to wear. He gingerly approached Tony. 

"Hey, uh-" He looked at the collar again, "You sure you can 'handle a couple of government officials' for me, right?" 

"Why wouldn't I be, kid?" Tony casually responded, certainty evident in his voice. 

Once the armored van with the captive heroes was sent off Tony gathered everyone up for a debriefing. 

"Okay," He sounded tired, "SHIELD is taking Cap's allies to the Raft - a prison just off Roosevelt Island. Cap and Barnes are still missing, although an investigation is underway to find them. For now, we can head back to the Avengers Tower. We can't do much until we get news so just relax if you can." 

Tony was interrupted by a SHIELD agent clearing his throat to get Tony's attention. "Sorry, sir, but Secretary Ross needs to discuss something with you. It's urgent." 

He narrowed his eyes, "What does he need to talk about?" 

The agent gestured to Danny, "Him." 

The teen felt his blood run cold and stood completely still, "Uh, Mister Stark...?" 

"Don't worry about it, kid." Tony set his jaw, "I'll handle this." 

The bravado in Tony's voice didn't sound false but Danny still had his doubts. Even when all of Amity Park vouched for Phantom's innocence the government still sent the GiW to track him down time and time again. Tony stalked off with the agent and Peter inched a little closer to the other hero, giving him a comforting pat on the back. Danny hoped Tony knew how to deal with this 'Secretary Ross' guy. 

He really, _really_, hoped he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am evidently _very_ bad at pacing in fight scenes - especially when adding a whole new character into an existing fight scene. If there are any discrepancies then I'm sorry but I probably didn't catch 'em.
> 
> Sorry for the late update as well! I needed to edit the chapter correctly and I had my birthday Wednesday so I wasn't able to work on it then. Enjoy!
> 
> Next Chapter(2/21/2020, around 11:30 pm): Legalities and singing in the shower.


	4. Petty Legalities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony is having a stroke over legal troubles and his interns are absolute dumbasses.

There were only three things keeping Danny from running off first chance he got. The first and main one being his trust in Tony. The second being the fact that Spider-man hadn’t left his side since Tony left to talk with Secretary Ross. The third detail was so minute Danny wasn’t sure if anyone else had noticed. 

_’Him’._

The agent had said ‘him’. Not ‘it’, not ‘the ghost’, not anything that would suggest the man thought Danny to be inhuman. Of course, his stand-offish demeanor was unsettling, but that could be attributed to the fact that he was a government employee of a top-secret branch. 

He was sitting on an outside bench as agents practically swarmed the place. Some were taking photos of the wreckage, others tending to Rhodes and checking over the other heroes. One man came over to see if Peter was alright and the teen brushed it off as ‘I’m fine’. Nobody seemed to acknowledge Danny’s presence. 

"I swear, the nerve of some people!” Peter’s exclamation pulled Danny out of his thoughts. 

"Uh, what?” 

"That guy didn’t even ask if _you’re_ okay.” He was practically fuming, “You got tased and slammed into a moving truck!” 

Danny’s ribs ached remembering Ant-man’s lucky hit. He shrugged. 

"That’s just the way it’s always been. I’m a fast healer, anyways, so I’ll be fine.” 

The other teen didn’t look convinced. He crossed his arms and his mask’s eyes narrowed, giving Danny an incredulous look. 

"Really?” Peter squinted at him, “You’re ‘fine’?” 

"Hey, don’t give me that, mister ‘I got dragged out a window and slapped by a giant but hey! I’m fine!’” Danny glared. 

"Okay, fair point.” Peter admitted. 

The pair sat in relative silence for a few more minutes, only broken by the occasional order barked by a nearby agent and, after a while, Tony’s near-shouting heard from around the corner. 

"Jeez,” Peter fiddled with his thumbs, “Mister Stark seems really upset about something.” 

"Yeah,” Danny dumbly replied. 

He felt numb. _Maybe Mr.Stark is losing?_ He shook his head, furiously shaking away the thought. Tony was a billionaire and had single-handedly fended off the government more times than Danny would ever know. 

_But what if he can’t?_ The hairs on the back of Danny’s neck stood on end as he couldn’t help but picture all the horrible possibilities. 

_What if this time it’s different? What if he fails you? You failed him._

Danny shut his eyes as tight as possible, hugging himself. He could feel himself shivering even though he never got cold. 

_It’s only fair. You failed to do what he asked you to and now you’re paying for it._

"Hey!” Danny jumped. Peter looked guilty. 

"Uh, sorry, are you sure you’re okay? You were hyperventilating.” The teen gave Danny a concerned look over. 

”Um, y-yeah.” He stammered. 

It took a few minutes for Danny to get his breathing under control but even then his heart still pounded in his ears. Peter had a comforting hand on Danny’s arm and hadn’t let go. Danny was grateful for it - it was a reminder of where he was and that he had to keep himself calm. Another ten minutes later and Tony, without his suit this time, stalked around the corner. 

"Right, Ross is up my ass about this but I’ve got him calmed down for now.” 

Danny let out a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding. Tony noticed the teen’s nervousness. 

"No need to be worried, kid, I’ve got it under control. Come on, I’m sure you two have to skedaddle back to whatever hole you crawled out of.” He gestured to wave the two away. 

Danny gave him a grateful glance before standing and walking with Peter to the exit. 

"That was amazing, by the way! I saw you with the Ant-man guy.” Danny blushed green at Peter’s praise. 

"Well, you ended up taking him down, right? That was great - the way you stole Cap’s shield at the start was hilarious, too.” He shot back, grinning. He felt his nervousness slowly ebbing out of him with Peter’s jovial mood. 

"Well, I should have dodged that last hit,” Peter berated himself, holding his side, “Pretty sure I bruised a rib or two.” 

Danny shrugged, “Same here. I’m not great at close range fighting so I didn’t last as long as I usually do in a fight.” He frowned, “Really should have tried to get some distance going.” 

"What? You did awesome! That trick with the invisibility was just what you needed to get the advantage!” Peter protested. 

"So did you! The webs around the knees were clever and did the job perfectly!” Danny shot back. 

"Okay, let’s just stop with the self-depreciation then.” Peter grinned. 

The two smiled happily and kept exchanging compliments until they reached the exit where the team initially gathered. There were a sparse few agents manning the dark blue SHIELD vans but they didn’t so much as glance Danny and Peter’s way. 

Danny sadly realized he and Spider-man would have to part ways. 

"Uh, well, it was nice meeting you. And fighting with you, I guess.” He awkwardly managed to say. 

Peter’s shoulders slumped, “Oh yeah. Goodbyes. Well, we can always meet up again.” 

Danny perked up, “Really?” 

"Well, yeah. Do you have a phone?” His mask’s eyes were saucers. 

"Do I have a phone?” Danny repeated, grinning mischievously, “Yeah, I’ve got a twitter too. I’ll get in touch with you - how many heroes are in this city, anyway? Can’t be hard to meet up.” 

"Hey, you have a twitter? That’s awesome, dude!” Peter was practically glowing with excitement. Danny was _literally_ glowing with excitement. 

The moment was interrupted by Danny’s wristband letting out a cheerful bell chime. He quickly tapped the top and a short notification pulled up. He read it over, silent. 

”Uh, what is it?” Peter asked, leaning away slightly to hinder his curiosity. 

”Huh.” Danny blinked, “That’s not _ideal_.” 

”What’s wrong?” 

Danny calmly tapped the wristband again and the message blinked away, “Nothing, I just gotta go now. See you later?” 

Peter grinned widely under the mask, “Of course!” 

With that, Danny jogged off and slowly raised himself off the ground. He opted to go for height rather than invisibility since he could barely make himself fly in the first place. The weather was nice and cool and a thick cloud layer had formed. 

Keeping high in the air wasn’t an issue, but Danny had to keep his concentration steady to keep flying. Fatigue was already setting in and he blearily rubbed his eyes, stifling a yawn. He took a deep breath of the afternoon air, which became wonderfully colder as he got higher up. 

The sun reflected off the clouds and gave them a warm, rosy hue. Danny didn’t have too much time to appreciate the view as his wristband beeped to let him know he was back at the hotel. He took in another breath and dove through the cloud layer, invisible. 

The hotel was right underneath him when he emerged so all he had to do was search for the fourth floor and he phased into the hallway. The lights were all on but there were no guests in sight. Danny remembered Happy saying something like ‘we’re the only people on this floor’ when briefing him, so he casually turned visible. 

...and then immediately stopped dead when he heard shuffling coming from down the hall. It barely took a second for him to transform back, although the fatigue became ten times worse in human form. He winced as he put weight on his leg, which, as he recalled, had been injured when he and Rhodes fell out of the sky. 

He stood a little straighter, ignoring the soreness of his muscles, and confidently walked down the hall to his room. He heard a concerning thud from Peter’s room and paused for a second, listening. 

A hissed string of curses and Danny raised an eyebrow. He shrugged it off easily enough - whatever the other teen did was none of his business. He swung open the door to his room, flinching at the pain in his shoulder. All it took was a glance at the downy, soft bed and Danny’s eyes immediately drooped. 

He vaguely remembered berating himself about sleeping in his clothes before flopping onto the bed - he was asleep before his head hit the pillow. 

\---------- 

"Come on, we don’t have all day!” Happy ushered Peter and Danny out of their rooms. 

They didn’t need to unpack anything in their suitcases and Happy had already taken their cases from Tony down to the car, so they were out the door in little more than ten minutes. Danny blinked several times in a vain attempt to brush away his sluggishness. Peter was no different. 

The minute they got back to the hotel after the battle the day before the two had fallen asleep - even if it was only four in the afternoon. Happy let them. 

They were scheduled to have a tour of Avenger’s tower and had to be up at eight in the morning to get there on time. Peter’s head dropped out of his hand and it hit the car window with a dull thud. He snapped up, alert, before slumping down again. Danny was worse - he’d found a position where he could use his backpack as a pillow and was curled up unnaturally in his seat. 

Happy gave them both an annoyed glare through the rear-view mirror. He sighed, realizing he’d have to reschedule everything if the boys were half-awake as they were. Another twenty minutes later and they’d arrived at the tower. 

It took only a few minutes to transfer their suitcases to their new rooms. If either boy noticed the shiny silver briefcase they each had they didn’t comment on it. Happy doubted it - both teens were half-lidded and they shuffled around like zombies. 

Then they met Tony in the main lobby for the grand tour. Peter had almost entirely woken up at that point, clearly excited with the prospect of touring _the_ Avengers tower. Waking Danny further required food, so they moved to the kitchen. 

"This is the kitchen if you can't tell. Some of the Avengers live in the tower so I had to expand it a while back. They eat enough to power a small garbage plant, let me tell you.” Despite his casual tone of voice, it was clear Tony was stressed about something. His clothes were wrinkled and there were small bags under his eyes. 

Danny perked up immediately after downing his waffles and was just as excited as Peter. The two were buzzing as Tony led them through the main areas and were almost bouncing off the walls when he showed off his lab. 

Needless to say, Tony loved their enthusiasm. 

”Wow! Is this an automated assembly unit?” Danny breathed, admiring the swiveling robotic arms atop the steel table he was leaning on. 

”Oh my sweet-!” Peter exclaimed, leaning closer to the shiny metallic table, “You have a holographic blueprint analyzer? These things are _killer_!” 

Tony smiled, not trying to hide his smugness at all, “Yup. Made ‘em myself.” 

"Boss, you have an incoming call in conference room A." Friday announced. 

Tony frowned, “You two have fun - try not to burn your hands off, would you? Keep an eye on ‘em Fri.” 

”Of course, boss.” 

Peter and Danny exchanged a worried look. The subject was quickly changed when Dum-E decided to come out of hiding and the two teens spent close to half an hour tossing him a ball and giving him affection. 

"You are the best boy!” Danny cooed, giving the robot loving pats on his head while Peter recovered the ball. 

The three looked over as the lab doors slid open with a pneumatic hiss and Tony, looking extremely disgruntled, stepped in. 

"Hey kids, you two look like you’re having fun.” He quipped, casually leaning against the doorframe. 

"You did tell us to.” Danny shot back, grinning, and dusted himself off from playing with Dum-E. 

"Right, well, someone wants to talk to you, Danny.” 

The teen’s eyes widened, “Crap! I forgot!” 

”Forgot what?” Tony asked, confused. 

"Agh, my parents asked me to call them last night - they’re gonna kill me!” In a not-so-graceful movement, Danny slid out the door and nearly fell on his face trying to turn the corner down the hallway. 

Tony stared after him, bewildered, “That was… unexpected.” He sighed, “Great, now I’ve gotta go chase him down.” 

Peter, also confused, walked over to stand beside Tony, “Uh, you want me to go get hIm?” 

"Oh yeah, I’ll be completely honest, I forgot you were here.” Tony shrugged, “But, yeah, if you would. Just send him up to the conference room. If you get lost Friday can help you.” 

Peter nodded, unfazed by Tony’s jesting, “I’ll be back in a bit.” 

The lab doors hissed shut again as Tony headed off to the elevator in the lab and Peter jogged down the hall. He knew Danny’s room was three doors to the right of his and as he approached he could hear the other teen’s incoherent conversation. Peter hovered his hand over the door handle. 

"Sam, I told you, I’m fine!” 

Peter hesitated at the sound of Danny’s slightly stressed voice. 

”Bruising several ribs is _not_ being fine, Danny!” A very upset girl’s voice retorted, sounding somewhat distant. Peter figured Danny must be on the phone. 

"She’s right, dude. You got your ass handed to you - you’ve gotta take it easy.” Another voice, a boy’s this time, agreed. 

Danny scoffed, “I didn’t get my ass handed to me, Tucker. In fact, I think I did really well - especially in a fight like that.” 

Peter tensed -_ Danny had been in a fight?_ He leaned a little further against the door. 

"Danny.” The girl - Sam - warned. 

”Okay, fine.” He admitted, exasperated, “I didn’t do _that_ well.” 

”Dude. You could have been killed.” Tucker added. 

Now Peter was really concerned. He’d left Danny alone for the entire evening when Tony called Peter to help deal with the Cap situation - who knows if the other boy had even stayed in the hotel for the whole time? If he left on his own and got hurt… 

Peter shook his head, reasoning that he didn’t have a choice but to leave Danny alone. _But, I still should have been there to help him, right?_

Danny let out a heavy, tired sigh, “Alright. I’ll take it easy then. I’ve gotta go anyway - Mister Stark wanted to talk to me about something. He’s probably waiting for me.” 

"You talked to your parents earlier, right?” Sam reminded. 

"Yeah, just now,” Danny shrugged, “They understood why I didn’t call. Jazz was a bit annoyed though.” 

"Just checking. See you later, Danny.” 

"Yeah, and call us with updates, alright?” Tucker added, somewhat worriedly. 

"I will.” Danny smiled, “See you.” 

A sharp click and Peter assumed the call had ended. He quickly filled with anxiety as Danny’s footsteps approached the door. It barely took Peter a few seconds to dash back around the corner, but he was panting heavily and quite surprised. He smoothed his hair down and took a few deep breaths, turning the corner as though he was walking normally down the hallway. 

Danny looked up in surprise - it seemed he was on his phone and almost collided with Peter, who quickly took a step or two back. 

”Oh, hey.” 

”Hi.” Peter squeaked out. 

”...o-kay.” Danny raised a brow. 

"Oh, uh, Mister Stark asked me to come get you.” Peter said, quickly recovering, “Said he needed you in the conference room.” 

”Oh, alright. That’s the one on the sixth floor, right?” Peter nodded, Danny slipped his phone back into his pocket, “I’ll head over there, then. Want to walk with me?” 

”Sure.” Peter easily turned and started walking alongside Danny. 

His anxiety was soothed somewhat since Danny hadn’t mentioned anything about Peter eavesdropping or even seemed to have noticed. He decided to get to know the other teen better. 

"So, I heard your parents are ectobiologists, right?” 

Danny nodded, “Yeah. They study the biology of ghosts and their nature overall. I’m more of a sidelines type of guy so I rarely get involved.” 

"What kind of stuff do they do?” Peter asked as they turned the corner. 

"Well,” Danny considered that, “Mainly they hunt ghosts and study them. They’ve never really caught a ghost yet, although they’re frequent enough over in Amity Park that they have tons of research info on them.” He turned to Peter, “What about you?” 

"Oh, uh,” Peter shrugged, “I live with my Aunt May - she works as a secretary in the bank near our apartment.” 

Danny nodded, “My mom used to work in a library before she met my dad. She always felt too antsy behind a desk, though. Ghost hunting suits her a lot better.” 

The pair approached the elevator and Danny clicked the button for the sixth floor. The doors smoothly slid shut and they began slowly gliding upwards. 

"So,” Danny gave Peter a curious glance, “You ever been bullied?” 

Peter groaned, “All. The. Time.” 

The other teen chuckled, “I feel that. I’ve got your stereotypical blonde jock - perfect in social standing and the teachers let him get away with anything as long as the football team does well. Excellent at stuffing unsuspecting nerds into lockers and has hung me from the flagpole more times than I care to count.” 

Peter smiled, “I must say I will tenderly remember the moments Flash has threatened to kill me over the years.” 

Danny’ raised a brow, smiling, “Flash? Really?” 

"Yup,” Peter affirmed, “Rich boy, popular, has all the girls swooning over him, and is actually surprisingly smart,” He snorted, “Actually, scratch that - he _thinks_ he’s smart.” 

"Well,” Danny grinned, “Sounds like he and _Dash_ will get along just fine.” 

Peter’s eyes widened, “Flash and Dash? Okay, there’s no way that can’t be fate.” 

The elevator gently slowed to a stop, signaling the end of the teens’ bonding over shared school bully woes. The doors slid open to reveal a mildly annoyed Tony standing there, glaring at his watch. He glanced up at the teens’ arrival. 

"Come on, Danny. We’re late already.” Tony curtly addressed the boy. 

Danny recognized Tony’s worried look and immediately stepped out of the elevator, “I’ll meet up with you later, Peter.” 

”No problem.” The other teen replied, only somewhat realizing the seriousness of the situation. 

The elevator shut again as Peter hit the second-floor button and Tony turned to Danny. 

"We’re gonna need the other guy for this one.” He glanced up and down at the teen. 

”Oh, right.” Danny said, nervousness sinking in. It was one thing for Tony to need Fenton, but needing Phantom must mean something was up. Especially with Tony as stressed as he was. 

Danny quickly nudged the cold spot inside him into action and the halo of light he knew so well appeared around his waist. A half-second later and Danny Phantom stood where Danny Fenton was just a moment ago. Tony simply nodded and led the way into the nearest conference room, which housed a large white table and many chairs of the same design. 

"Okay," He sighed deeply, "Secretary Ross wants to speak with you directly, so just stay calm." 

He tapped a near-invisible button on the table and a huge holographic screen appeared, hovering above the surface. Tony pulled Danny over and positioned him in front of the screen, next to him. 

"I'm sure he'll try and rile you up." He added tensely, "Don't let him." 

It barely took a second before the screen lit up and an unfamiliar face stared back. Danny had to force himself to stay visible under the man's accusing glare. 

"Ross, this is Phantom." Tony curtly introduced. 

"I can see that, Stark." Ross eyed Danny curiously, "Now, what I want to know is exactly what precautions we're going to take here. It would be unspeakable for me to allow something this powerful to be roaming New York freely." 

Danny felt his blood boil but paled when he glanced over at Tony, who looked like he might blow any minute. Ross gave both of them an unreadable look, although it was clear his intention was, indeed, to rile them up. 

"_Him_. And, I can assure you, Phantom is in no way hostile." 

"Stark, I'll put this frankly," Ross scowled, "There are many reports of Phantom's crimes in Amity Park. An insane amount of property damage, attempted theft, he's even kidnapped Amity Park's mayor. Clearly he isn't as innocent as you may think." 

_Usually other ghost's fault, framed, Walker was behind that one..._ Danny listed off in his head all the reasons he was even present for those crimes and frowned. 

"I've looked into each of those events and found Phantom wasn't the one responsible for those issues." Tony was having a hard time keeping himself calm. 

"Do you have proof of that, Stark?" 

Tony nodded and tapped another button on the table - although with much less care this time - and a smaller video feed appeared to the left of the current conference call. Danny's eyes widened when he realized it was showing his fight with freakshow's minions in the jewelry shop. Where he was also framed for theft, of course. 

This time it showed the entire video - not just the last thirty seconds where Danny got showered with necklaces and whatnot.

Ross hummed thoughtfully. 

"How can we be sure Phantom didn't orchestrate the whole thing?" He raised a brow. 

"Well, for one, the other ghosts attacked him," Tony was losing his patience, "Then, they framed him, which would be the opposite of what you'd want when trying to make yourself _look_ like the hero." 

"What about the situation involving the Mayor? I'm sure Phantom here has a reasonable explanation for that as well?" 

Tony looked over at Danny, who swallowed nervously. He gestured for Danny to continue. 

"Well, that was staged." The teen forced himself to make eye contact with Ross but withered under the man's glare, "The mayor was possessed by a ghost named Walker and I had to get him out." 

"And the Mayor was unharmed?" Ross pushed. 

"Of course." Danny insisted. 

"Hm," He turned back to Tony, "Can you vouch for this, Stark?" 

"Well, I have a witness report that states the Mayor was up and walking immediately after Phantom's intervention." Another click and the article appeared to the right of the larger screen. Ross considered it for a moment. 

"Now, even if Phantom is being truthful, the property damage is staggeringly high," Ross gestured vaguely, "We can't reasonably have it in New York without running the risk of someone getting hurt." 

"I can assure you _he_ will only step in when absolutely necessary." Tony hissed, "Otherwise the other heroes that signed the accords will take care of the problem." 

"And what about Phantom? He cannot legally sign the accords and is technically not even a U.S. citizen." 

Danny scowled. _I'm sure he'll try and rile you up. Don't let him._ He repeated Tony's words in his head like a broken record, taking extra care to keep his body language relaxed. Tony, on the other hand, was ready and willing to tear Ross a new one through the holographic screen if he had to.

"I'm sure we can figure something out, then." He practically spat, "Laws can be changed. Especially considering how unique the situation is at the moment." 

"Stark, it's not as simple as that," Ross turned a demeaning gaze on Tony, "We'd need to organize a council hearing, there'd be mountains of paperwork, legal debates-" 

"Then get started." Tony said, tone bordering on threatening. 

Ross raised a brow, "Time is money, Stark." 

"Then I'll fund it then." 

A beat of silence. Danny wanted to disappear then and there. He was embarrassed that Tony had to stick his neck out for him like that and just wished he could handle it on his own. 

"You realize that this means it will be _your_ responsibility until the council comes to a decision?" 

"Yes," Tony replied, unhesitantly, "Of course I do." 

"Then it'll need to stay in the tower on a probationary period until the legal work is taken care of. If anything happens to negatively impact your case I won't hesitate to take preventative action." Ross informed. 

Danny shuffled nervously, understanding exactly what 'preventative action' would entail. Tony simply nodded. 

"Good," Ross laced his fingers together, ready to close the call before pausing, "If it harms anyone in any way or allows someone to be harmed, I won't help you, Stark." 

The teen winced at the harsh, emotionless manner of Ross's warning. As formally as if they were discussing buying a house. It showed that he really, truly, did not care what happened to Danny. 

Tony grimaced, "Of course." 

With that, the holographic screens blinked back into the table and Danny let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Tony slumped back into a chair and sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes. Danny nervously squirmed in place, unsure of what to say. 

"Right, run along then," Tony glanced at the teen, "I'm sure Peter is waiting for you to go pick up girls or whatever it is kids these days do." 

Danny snorted, "I, uh-thought I wasn't allowed to leave the tower, though?" 

"_You_ aren't," He gave Danny a sly look, "Nobody said anything about Fenton." 

"Oh," Danny smiled, "I guess you're right." 

After a moment's pause he turned back into Fenton with a brief flash of light and headed to the door, where he hesitated. 

"Um, so, why'd you do all that for me? It's gotta be an enormous legal headache for everyone." He wrung his hands. 

Tony shrugged, "Favors for favors, kid. If I let them take you wherever and turned a blind eye what would that mean for Wanda? Or Cap for that matter? Sure they're more 'human' but I think that's a relative term when you're discussing super soldiers and magicians." 

Danny smiled nervously, "...Thanks." 

"Don't mention it, kid. Now we're even." He flapped his hand to gesture for Danny to go, "Go on, then." 

"Right." The teen gave Tony one last wave before darting back out into the hall. 

He watched Danny go before letting out another heavy sigh and swiveling to face the large array of windows. It was odd to him, really, how the government only allowed people to be free if they weren't _afraid_ of them. And sure, it would most _definitely_ be a headache to all parties involved, but he wasn't giving up on Danny. 

Because that would mean giving up on Peter. 

They're both teens, reckless, and powerful to boot, but all they wanted to do was help people. 

So who was Tony to say Danny couldn't be free when Peter was allowed to? That's why Tony wasn't giving up. On either of them. 

He _couldn't_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having trouble keeping up with the one chapter per week schedule so I may skip next week depending on how heavy my school workload is, so just a heads up for that.
> 
> I also lied - the singing in the shower bit is next chapter ;)


	5. Ice Breakers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Peter and Danny hang out, are completely oblivious, Tony is smug as fuck, and I don't know how twitter messaging works so I improvised.

"So..." 

Peter began, awkwardly rapping his fingers on the edge of his laptop while Danny was practically lying on top of a cleared-off table. 

They were in the lab, which was bigger than both of the boys’ bedrooms combined and was the most ‘modern’ as modern could get. It was also extremely messy. Peter had nearly slipped on the linoleum tile about three separate times trying to step over things - mainly due to his sneakers being so worn down the traction on the bottoms was nonexistent - and Danny kept stumbling over the gadgets Tony left everywhere. 

To put it simply, the room was a veritable pandemonium, even when the only two people in it didn’t know how to use any of the machinery in the slightest - pinpricks of light would flicker and blink from random sources, or sputter like candles next to an open window. One wall was made of a panel of windows, which offered quite the magnificent view, and showcased all the inventions strewn about. 

There was a huge collection of various welding gear, a toolbox filled exclusively with different sizes of screwdrivers, and, on each more valuable piece of equipment, there was a sticky note reading something along the lines of ‘don’t touch this - T’ or, ‘or this - T’. 

Once Danny had gotten back from his meeting with Ross - if you could call it that, considering how the teen was overlooked almost entirely - he and Peter set about finding something to occupy them. 

"So," Danny messed with his thumbs, "Uh... we could work on some of those projects?" 

Peter shook his head, "Mine’re still being uploaded to the server. Yours?" 

"Same." 

The teens simultaneously let out exhausted sighs. The awkward silence once again drifted into the room and Danny leaned back into his chair. Peter clicked away on his keyboard for a few more minutes, proudly working ahead in his homework, before sitting up straight. Danny gave him an odd look but the other teen quickly masked his excitement and shut his laptop with a satisfying _click_. 

"What'cha up to?" Danny asked, tipping his head up. 

"I'm gonna go see if one of my friends wants to hang out." Peter said, gathering his backpack together, "Oh-" He suddenly felt guilty, "Sorry if you can't come with." 

The dark-haired boy shrugged, "No problem. I'll see what I can do here." 

Peter nodded, grinning, before jogging out the door. Danny looked after him before settling down in his chair and opting to take a well-deserved nap. About five minutes later his phone chimed, interrupting his light sleep. 

"Hm." He mumbled, blinking away his fatigue. He tugged his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen. 

@TheRealSpiderBoy 

_Hey it’s Spiderman here _

_This is the fourth account I’ve checked so… _

_Posterity selfie?_

The next message was a slightly blurry image of Spiderman making the peace sign with one hand and presumably holding his phone out with the other. The ‘floor’ was evidently the side of a building as Danny could see New York traffic - classically consisting about 40% of bright yellow taxis - far in the background. 

Danny's eyes widened and a grin slowly crept up onto his face. 

"Well, what do you know?" He muttered under his breath. Just as he prepared to transform into his ghostly form the telltale sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway. The lab doors smoothly slid open and Danny was greeted with a much less tired-looking Tony. 

"Hey there, Casper, find anything to haunt?" He asked cockily, one brow raised. 

Danny gave him a sly grin, "Well, Spider-man just asked For a ‘posterity selfie’. Probably wants to make sure I’m, well, _me_, so maybe I can go meet up with him." 

“Normally I’d be all for that but currently you’re on probation.” Tony sighed. 

“Ah.” The teen frowned, “Right.” 

Tony glanced around, noticing the lack of a second intern, "Where’d Peter head off to?" 

"He said he's gonna go see if his friend wants to hang out," Danny shrugged. 

Tony internally clicked all the pieces into place, holding himself smugly. It was incredible to him how oblivious the two teens could be. 

"Well, you _could_ hang out here - just don't wreck the place. It’s enough work cleaning up after the Avengers and they’re adults." He sarcastically chided before walking past Danny and into the workshop. 

The teen just rolled his eyes and took a quick glance at his phone as it chimed again. 

@TheRealSpiderBoy 

_You there?_

Danny stood from his chair and rolled it back into the table. Tony gave him a curious look but didn’t turn away from the holographic image he was editing. 

“Goin’ ghost.” Danny whispered to himself, willing that little bit of confidence to seep into him. 

He subconsciously stood straighter and the cold, compact ache in the center of his chest burst into action like opening a floodgate. The teen blinked as the transformation washed over him and glanced around the room, which was now tinted ever so slightly green. 

“‘Going Ghost?’” 

Danny blushed bright green at Tony’s question and glared at the man, who had an unreadable expression on his face. However, the clear amusement in his eyes was obvious enough. 

“It… it helps with my confidence!” He sheepishly admitted. 

Tony seemed to take that as an answer and turned back to altering the hologram blueprint, which Danny could now see resembled the well-known design of an Iron Man Repulsor. The teen, floating with his legs tucked under him, held his phone up and snapped a ‘posterity selfie’. He turned his back to a plain white wall and smiled, eyes glowing convincingly. He also made sure to use the 'peace' sign to differentiate it from every other photo of him on the internet. 

A second later the image sent. 

@AmitysGhostKid 

_Hey _

_Its me_

\----- 

@TheRealSpiderBoy 

_Oh good _

_Sorry i just messaged a bunch of fake accounts so I had to be sure_

\----- 

@AmitysGhostKid 

_Np _

_Did you wanna hang out?_

\----- 

@TheRealSpiderBoy 

_Like you read my mind _

_I could take you on a tour of New York while youre here?_

Danny frowned, knowing he couldn’t risk making the whole mess harder for Tony by sneaking out of the tower. He shuffled around in the air and tilted back slightly, leaning on nothing. 

@AmitysGhostKid 

_Sorry I cant _

_Apparetnly helping a billionaire catch a fugitive tends to make people dislike you_

\----- 

@TheRealSpiderBoy 

_Harsh, dude _

_Where are you then?_

\----- 

@AmitysGhostKid 

_On house arrest at the tower _

_The Avengers one_

\----- 

@TheRealSpiderBoy 

_Sweet _

_I know theres a big open training room that takes up like 3 stories _

_On the 62nd floor _

_you wanna meet there?_

Danny blinked. He lamented how easy it was to forget that the Avenger’s tower had a staggering _ninety three_ floors - mainly because he was half-awake during the general tour of the first twenty stories. 

@AmitysGhostBoy 

_Sounds like a plan _

_See you there_

\----- 

@TheRealSpiderBoy 

_See ya_

With that Danny slipped his phone into one of the many pouches on his belt - which he was very happy with - and gave Tony one last glare before drifting up into the ceiling. 

He quickly passed through the building, only pausing at floors 23 and 46 to admire the interior decorating. He also noted how many different varieties of couches Tony owned. The other floors were mainly filled with storage and other such things and Danny ignored them for the most part. 

When he finally reached the training room - floor 64 so Spiderman’s guess wasn’t too far off - he looked around and figured he must have gotten there first. The room definitely took up more than one story, considering the two layers of glass panel windows on either side of the area. Danny estimated a super bowl-sized football field would be able to fit if you pushed it. 

“Well,” He shrugged to nobody in particular. A wistful look crept onto his face and he smiled, “Guess I can just wait here for a bit.” 

Danny admired the huge area and decided to fly a few laps. He drifted up into the air and took a second to look around. 

On the second story of the training area, overlooking everything, were two observation areas. Danny could see a shooting range through one of the windows and what he guessed was a suit assembly-disassembly area for Tony in another. 

The floor resembled a high-tech basketball court and the ceiling was high enough up that Danny figured he could comfortably train without feeling too cooped up. 

“Hm,” He finished his inspection of the area and planted his hands on his hips, smiling, “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.” 

“Oh-” 

Danny blinked and glanced behind him. Stepping out of the elevator was a familiar figure in a bright red and blue suit. 

“Hey,” Danny grinned, “What’s up, spidey?” 

Spider-man smiled back and the other teen floated down to be at eye level, “You, apparently.” 

Danny simply shrugged, “Fair. So what’d you wanna do?” 

“I’m glad you asked!” Peter exclaimed, cheerfully, “I figured we could get to know each other and just chill.” 

“Sounds like a plan. So,” Danny flipped onto his back and tucked his arms behind his head, “What’s your favorite color?” 

Peter blinked, “Wait what?” 

The other teen grinned widely, “You said we should get to know each other and I’m curious.” 

“Oh. Uh, red.” He answered, gesturing to his suit, “Yours?” 

“Sky blue,” Danny responded, drifting around lazily, “Hmm… what about…” He glanced over to Peter, who had made himself a hammock spanning from one end of the massive training facility to the other and was nestled inside, “Nicknames?” 

Peter shrugged, “My friends call me ‘Spidey’.” 

“I go by Phantom but you can just call me Danny. That was my name when I was alive, of course.” 

“Oh.” Peter didn’t understand why that made him feel slightly uncomfortable - the mention of being _alive_, “Okay.” 

Danny thankfully didn’t seem to notice his friend’s demeanor, “What about powers?” 

The other hero took the subject change in stride and perked up, “Let’s see, I’ve mostly just got my webs and stuff but I’ve got a bit of super strength too. I think I heal faster and eat more and stuff like that. Then I’ve got my ‘spidey-sense’ which is basically just a sixth danger sense type deal.” 

Danny smiled widely, "_Wow_! You can really do a lot with that, y'know? I mean just _look_ at your hammock design!" 

Peter's face became increasingly hot and he shifted the attention over to Danny, “What about you?” 

“Hm?” Danny raised a brow at Peter’s look, “Oh. Uh, standard ghost stuff, really. Intangibility, invisibility, flight, plasma blasts, minor telekinesis. Oh, I can do ice stuff and apparently I can learn to duplicate but I’m terrible at it. And I can overshadow people but I _hate_ doing that.” 

He paused for a second, going through the mental list of all his abilities in his head. Danny glanced at Peter and frowned. 

“What?” 

Peter’s mask’s eyes widened and Danny guessed he was probably grinning as far as he possibly could, “Dude! That’s awesome!” 

Danny blushed dark green, causing his glowing white freckles to pop out, “Really? I mean they’re all pretty basic for ghosts.” 

Peter just shrugged, “Well, still. I don’t know that many people that can walk through walls, disappear and fly.” 

“I mean, I guess.” Danny conceded, “A danger sense like yours would be nice, though. I’ve got something like that but it only works for other ghosts.” 

“Still sounds pretty useful.” 

“Eh. I guess.” Danny flipped back onto his stomach, “I wish we could hang out outside the tower.” 

Peter tilted his head to the side slightly, “Why can’t you leave, anyway?” 

“Long story short the government doesn’t really like ghosts. More specifically, they consider all ghosts ‘evil’,” Danny frowned, “That includes me.” 

“Wow.” Peter’s brow furrowed, “That’s harsh.” 

“Don’t I know it?” The other teen sighed deeply. 

The pair stewed in silence for a few minutes, Peter busying himself with swinging back and forth in his hammock while Danny casually drifted around. Finally, the latter glanced over. 

“What are you doing?” He asked. Peter looked at Danny. 

“It’s my spidey-snuggie.” He said, unashamed. The teen had created what was essentially a cover for his hammock and wrapped it around him, leaving only his head peeking out. The best way to describe the way he looked was a spider’s dinner stuck in a web. 

Danny dawned his most serious expression and pressed his hands together, gesturing at the hammock, “Dude. That is the best thing I’ve ever seen.” 

Peter grinned widely and shuffled further into his cozy wrap of webs. He and Danny then proceeded to spend the next hour messing around and, once Peter hesitantly proclaimed ‘damn Danny - back at it again with the white vans’ when talking about shoes, they started a ‘vine-off’. 

They were finally interrupted when Peter realized he had to go. 

“It’s already three.” The teen muttered, “I’ve gotta get going.” 

“Oh.” Danny’s shoulders slumped, “Well, we can hang out again sometime.” 

“Yeah!” Peter agreed enthusiastically. 

Another five minutes and the tent structure they’d constructed out of webs suspended from the ceiling was disassembled Peter left through the elevator - which seemed, to the other teen, oddly silly for a hero - and Danny descended through the floor. 

He re-entered the lab with a giddy smile on his face at meeting and befriending another teen superhero. A quick transformation and Danny Fenton was lounging in his swiveling chair, zoning out, a smile still plastered on his face. 

Tony, who had left to get coffee, entered the lab to find an overly happy Danny, no Peter, and a holographic design of what appeared to be a Fenton Thermos drifting over Danny's table. 

Sleep deprived as he was, he just shrugged and got settled at his workspace again. Another five minutes later and Peter rushed in, tugging his half-ripped backpack strap back over his shoulder. Danny looked up when the other teen tiredly flopped back into his chair. 

“What’re you running from?” Danny quipped. 

Peter just sighed deeply in response. He’d had to find someplace to change out of his suit and find his backpack, which he’d hidden this time so it didn’t get stolen. Then rush back to the tower. His haste was mostly in making sure his fellow intern didn't get himself _beat up_ like the last time. Danny just shrugged and turned back to his holographic model. 

They sat in silence until Peter, who opted to take a nap, got a notification on his smartwatch. He quickly gathered his things and turned to Danny. 

“Sorry for running out earlier - and now, I guess. My Aunt needs me to help move some stuff out of storage.” He explained. 

The other teen shrugged, satisfied with social interaction for the day, “No problem. See you later.” 

With that Peter once again rushed out of the lab and Danny was left alone with Tony. The man sipped his coffee and raised a brow at the teen. 

“Busy kid. Don’t worry, I’m sure you two will get along.” 

“Yeah, no kidding,” Danny smiled, “But I have a good feeling about this guy.” 

“Well, you do have more in common than you realize.” 

“Really?” 

Tony smiled and revelled in the sweet feeling of satisfaction of knowing something everyone else didn’t, “Yeah. You’re both huge nerds.” 

“...Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Hahaha watch this  
Me: *Delays plot point/concept**Delays plot point/concept**Delays plot point/concept**Delays plot point/concept**Dela-
> 
> Hrrggh I need to get better at pacing. 
> 
> School been _rough_ and my mom's been away for a bit so I needed to help around the house more. Really, really sorry for such a long hiatus BUT it's spring break and I'll have tons of extra time to work on the fic! If I'm lucky I can stockpile a few chapters/side chapters.
> 
> Your support means a lot! Every hit, kudos, or comment inspires me to keep on writing! 
> 
> I'm really happy with this story so I can promise you I won't abandon it anytime soon, it just might be a while in-between chapters on occasion.
> 
> Love you guys!


	6. UPDATE - Temporary Hiatus

Really sorry, guys, I know the whole 'quarantine' thing would seem like an excuse to work on fics more and all that but the inspiration is just not coming to me. 

I want to put quality over quantity and don't want to write just for the sake of getting a chapter out. Otherwise, the story will suffer. 

I hope you guys understand - just know, I am NOT abandoning the fic in any way. I will continue the fic once my inspiration and motivation returns, this is just a break for me! 

For now, I'll post short stories (that may or may not have anything to do with the actual story) and little doodles and art concepts. 

Thank you so much for the support and I promise I'll be back as soon as I can! 

-DPC


	7. HIATUS UPDATE - memes

So, as the name suggests, this is just a short update with a few memes I put together and some doodles(although the correct way of drawing Peter's hair seems to deeply elude me)

I figured out the reason why I was at such a roadblock for the story was that I needed to introduce the key elements and players for the first major conflict but didn't want to make it seem uninteresting. Since it was mostly exposition(and still is) it needed a _ton_ of tweaking.

On that note, **the next chapter should be out by the end of next week at the _very_ latest.** I'm prioritizing getting the next few chapters done over other projects and keeping myself motivated by binging the Marvel movies again! :D

The chapters coming out after the next one might be a bit sporadically spaced based on how fast I get those story parts together, since, as I said, the first major conflict will be happening then.

But, until then, enjoy these stupid memes I spend 4 hours on one day(and may or may not be making more of as characters are introduced)!

Also, some proof from my Tumblr that I can _actually_ art and not just do dumbass shit all the time:

Anyways, that's all for now! I'll see you guys before next week ends with the next chapter! :D 

-DPC


	8. Phantom of the Not-Quite Opera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Danny flexes his singing skills, Harley joins the battle, and Tony is still pissed at his ex-best friend.

_‘Mamaaaa- just killed a man…!’_

Danny hummed along as the song gently drifted out of his headphones, not quite knowing the lyrics but not willing to be left out of it completely. 

His hands worked deftly, practically dancing over the machine. Which, per Fenton invention standards, resembled an utterly mundane object with Halloween-costume grade additions. In this case, it looked like a car engine with a ridiculously bulky antenna on one end. 

Danny carefully selected a slim screwdriver and shimmied it in between two panels of the invention. A sharp click later, he was adjusting wiring and swaying to the music. 

_‘Mamaaaa, Life had juuuust beguuun-!’_

“Hmmm-hmmhm…” 

He shuffled the box of pre-cut pieces he’d prepared, picking out an L-shaped, flat, silver bit and _clacking_ it into place to the side of a circuit board he’d hooked up previously. 

_‘And now I’ve gone and thrown it aall awaay-!’_

“Mmhm, hmm-gone and thrown it _aall, awaay-!_” 

With that done he replaced the panel and moved over to the right side of the machine, where the antenna resided. To be fair, ‘antenna’ would be pushing it. The crude add-on looked like a horizontal ice cream cone with a plate on top to act as a satellite dish. 

To the casual observer, that might as well be exactly what it was. 

_“Mamaaa, I don’t wanna diieeee-!” _

Danny suddenly dramatically thrust out an arm, sweeping it through the air as he ventured through the lyrics, mumbling half and nailing the other half. 

_“Mamaaa-! Oooh..!”_ The invention was long forgotten as the teen dropped his screwdriver on the table and opted to spin on his heel, “Didn’t mean to make you _cryyy-!_” 

The lab doors opened with a distinct pneumatic hiss and Danny immediately froze in his odd half-crouched dancing position, voice faltering with a soft squeak and trailing off. 

Standing there, an exceedingly confused look on his face, was a tall, dirty-blonde haired man with a black backpack slung over his shoulder. 

He immediately instinctively pulled his headphones down and snapped into a flat-as-a-board position. 

“Hell_o_.” Danny squeaked, internally _dying_ at the sharp voice crack. He casually leaned his palm on the table behind him in an effort to look nonchalant. 

-Only to miss by an inch and nearly fall to the floor with a very embarrassing yelp. He recovered and once again stood as stiffly as possible. His one mercy was being spared the fate of actually face-planting to the tile. 

The stranger raised a brow, “Uh, hi? Is… is Tony here?” 

“Oh, uh, you mean Mr. Stark?” The teen resisted the urge to facepalm at the ‘Captain Obvious’ worthy question. 

“Yeah, I’m supposed to meet him here.” The man glanced around the area, taking in the messiness of the room, the multitude of blinking inventions and machinery, and Danny’s worn blue backpack, which stuck out like a sore thumb in the high-tech room and had very clearly seen better days. 

The beat of silence quickly elapsed into a good ten seconds of awkward avoiding-of-eye-contact. 

“So, uh-do you want me to… go get him?” Danny offered, shoulders almost touching his ears with how tensely he was standing. 

“Sure.” The stranger replied simply, shuffling the duffel bag further up onto his shoulder. 

Cue Danny nervously walking to the door, shimmying around the man - who he _still_ didn’t know the name of - and finally dashing out into the hall once he was out of earshot. 

It was only when he was half-way down the way to Tony’s office two minutes later did he stop to realize the _glaringly_ obvious solution he’d missed. 

So, suppressing an over-the-top groan of annoyance in favor of cringing at his own stupidity, Danny doubled back and awkwardly reentered the lab. 

“Uh,” The teen greeted, “I could’ve just asked Friday.” 

Yes, he could’ve. 

Now, the reaction Danny was expecting from a young adult like the guy politely still standing there would be along the lines of ‘oh it’s no problem’ or ‘good idea’. 

Instead, he got a bursting snort of laughter intended exclusively to point fingers at the teen’s misfortune. Danny was half grateful the stranger was doubled over with wheezing chortling - so they couldn’t see the teen’s face go a fierce greenish-red - and half _pissed_ at the reaction. 

“It’s an easy mistake to make-” Danny protested, crossing his arms and unsuccessfully willing his face to return to a normal color. 

“Well, you two seem to be having a real party here - why didn't you invite me?” 

Danny and the stranger recovered enough - although _barely_ enough - to turn and find Tony standing in the doorway. The exceptionally amused smirk on his face only served to make the new guy hold his stomach tighter and turn even pinker - if that was possible - from holding in laughter. Meanwhile, Danny turned an even darker shade of red. 

He silently thanked the fact the newcomer was dying of laughter behind him and thus couldn’t see the unhealthy dark green coloration twisting just behind his skin. 

Tony, however, did notice this and raised a brow. 

“Alright, Harley, stop tormenting my intern, would’ya?” The billionaire’s tone showed that he clearly knew the stranger a good, long time. 

The newcomer - Harley, Danny mentally corrected - finally stopped wheezing and straightened his back, “Sorry, Tony-_snrk_-your intern is… _nice_.” He finally settled on the word, a sly glint sneaking behind his eyes. 

Danny furrowed his brow, annoyed at the uppity attitude Harley projected. Not to mention the fist still pressed to his mouth and the occasional tremble of silent laughter from the man. 

“Alright, why don’t you get settled, Harley?” Tony directed at the still mostly-pink-from-laughing guest, “Then you can show Danny and my other intern around.” 

“Yes, sir.” Harley mock saluted, earning an eye-roll from Tony and a deeper scowl from Danny. 

He then walked off through the lab doors, clearly used to the area. Despite knowing it was irrational, Danny couldn’t help but feel slightly envious of how comfortable Harley was, while the teen kept worrying about setting off a domino-effect chain reaction of mistakes with every little step around the compound. 

“Hey, Danny-” The teen blinked, “-You got your head back from the clouds yet?” 

Tony’s voice drew him back to the present and he quickly shrugged, “Just wondering where you knew him from.” 

The billionaire nodded, “Long story - I might tell you some other time. But for now, I wanted to ask a couple questions - that alright with you?” 

Danny blinked again, not used to how fast Tony was speaking. From the way he was very slightly tapping his foot, the way his eyes jittered ever so slightly, and the quickly-drying coffee smell, Danny had to guess he’d pulled an all-nighter. Maybe several. 

“Uh, sure. Hey, how much caffeine have you had-” 

“Okay, great. I was planning on upgrading your suit a bit so just wanted to know some things,” Tony gestured with his hands quite wildly, still managing to portray the image of casual authority in his jittery, caffeine-induced state. 

“Okay, what’s up?” Danny tilted his head to the side in question, sliding back into his chair while he had the chance. 

“So,” Tony crossed his arms, thinking, “How’d the little guy get the best of you anyway?” 

The teen frowned, “You mean Ant-man?” 

“Yeah, the little guy.” 

“Well, I guess it’s ‘cause most of my attacks are high-energy stuff. I didn’t exactly want to obliterate the guy, so that took out a bunch of my moves.” 

“True, true,” Tony thought for a second, “What about the suit? How’d she perform?” 

“The suit’s pretty good - similar to my old one but a lot more comfortable for sure.” Danny grinned, “_Definitely_ like the thermos holster and pockets. The goggles are pretty useful too.” 

Tony finally nodded, satisfied, “Alright, well why don’t you find something to do while I show Harley around the tower-I’m sure you and Peter’ve been itching to hang out.” 

Danny smiled, “Oh, right! We didn’t get to hang out yesterday.” He grabbed the backpack from behind him and started rooting around, “I’ll ask him if he’s free.” 

The billionaire smiled in approval before leaning away from the wall and leaving the teen to his excitement. 

He took a moment to internally praise himself for guessing the interns would get along so well. It was with this smug attitude he left the lab and strode into the elevator. Coincidently, Harley’s surprised smile greeted him as the doors slid open, the absence of his bag being the only change. 

“You looking happy about something is never a good sign,” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “Or is it just your ego flexing again?” 

Tony sighed in annoyance, ignoring the way the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. 

He stretched an arm out and clicked the button for his floor, “You know me too well Harl.” 

The other man just wordlessly shrugged, grinning softly. There was something about knowing someone for over ten years that made it easy to read them. Bu that fact made it clear to Harley that there was something Tony didn’t want to tell him. And it was only apparent when you _really_ looked. 

A coffee stain here, an untended scrape there, and the picture became a lot more clear. Harley frowned in thought, staring at Tony's sneakers blankly. 

Tony snapped his fingers in front of the other man’s eyes, jolting him out of his stupor with a start. 

The billionaire raised a brow, “You alright there, Harl? 

Harley blinked, casually sliding over his obvious mental fluke and smiling slyly, “Yeah, just wondering if you’re ever gonna get nicer shoes, old man.” 

Tony glared in mock offense, gesturing to his worn black sneakers with some odd equivalent to pride, “You’re dissing _my Nikes_? Think long and hard about what you’re saying Keener, or you might regret it.” 

Harley grinned widely, though he would never admit it, he missed their casual banter. 

The elevator slowed to a stop without either feeling any change in momentum and Tony got out. He waved over his shoulder, throwing a quick ‘see you after this meeting’ after it. The elevator was soon gliding downwards again, leaving Harley in relative silence. 

He sighed thoughtfully, sifting through the subtle clues again. Tony was definitely upset about something. If not upset, then angry. 

_Furious_ might be more apt, considering he was doing a damn good job at hiding it. 

More so than usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got some of my writing mojo back so the next chapter should be up on schedule! That chapter is also when the plot starts doing stuff. :D 
> 
> Crossposting to FanFiction.net will start with the release of this chapter and go 2 chapters a week till it catches up to here!
> 
> Aaand I just realized I should also probably give y'all my Tumblr link as well. Ah. (I will do this next chapter or so once FF.net get sorted)
> 
> Anyways, I decided to start posting the next chapter titles just for funsies so here's that:
> 
> Next chapter is 'At long last, something plot-relevant'
> 
> See you then and I hope you enjoy this semi-long filler chapter!


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